Lions
by Blue Kangaroo
Summary: Jack cares for Audrey and helps her return to normal after her ordeal in China. AU fic, takes place following S6 Ep. 19.
1. Chapter 1

Title: "Lions"

Rating: PG/PG-13

Summary: Jack cares for Audrey and helps her return to normal after her ordeal in China. (AU fic, takes place following S6 Ep. 19.)

Disclaimer: I own the 24 DVD's, but I don't own the show. It belongs to Jon Cassar.

Chapter 1

"Hands behind your head! Lock your fingers!" Angrily, Jack did as Mike Doyle ordered.

He winced as Doyle roughly grabbed his right arm and slapped a handcuff around his wrist. "Ow! Watch it!" Doyle didn't answer; just grabbed Jack's left arm and secured the handcuffs. "I had this," Jack snarled. "I had it under control. I was going to blow up the building to keep Cheng from getting the chip. Detonator's in my pocket," he added. Doyle snatched the device and inspected it, then handed it to another agent and grabbed Jack's arm. No apology, just a rough shove. Jack seethed as he allowed himself to be led away.

"Jack!" Audrey Raines stumbled past, being supported and led by several TAC agents. Sheer terror was written plainly on her face as she struggled to break free from them. "Jack... please... help me. Don't let them do this, Jack... please, don't let them do this! Help me!" Jack wrenched himself out of Doyle's grip and hurried to Audrey.

"Audrey," he whispered. "It's me. I'm right here. You're safe."

Audrey seemed to stare straight through him. "Jack," she gasped. "Please... help me... don't let them do this..."

Jack stared at her in horror. "Audrey," he choked. "Do... do you know who I am?" Audrey's blank stare confirmed his fear. "What did they do to you?" Jack hissed. "What have they done?"

"That's enough." Doyle grabbed his arm again. "They've got her, Jack. She'll be taken care of in Medical. Meanwhile, you're under arrest. Let's go." Jack gritted his teeth, but allowed the younger man to lead him away. For now, he would be innocent and compliant... but somehow, he would find a way to get out of this. Audrey needed help.

**-O-O-O-O-O-O-**

Audrey wrapped her arms around her chest, tightly hugging herself. She had no idea where she was, and she didn't care. All she wanted was Jack. Who were these people, and what were they going to do to her? She didn't care about that, either. Daily torture by Cheng had broken her spirit. There was no use in fighting; that would only bring punishment. She had resigned herself to the fact that the pain wouldn't end.

Someone in a white coat patted her shoulder. "I'm not going to hurt you," the man told her. Audrey wasn't fooled. She knew he was lying. The fact that he was an American made no difference. Cheng had plenty of Americans and Brits working for him. Every so often, they would come to her. The first few times, she had gotten her hopes up that they were there to rescue her, but it hadn't been the case. Now she knew the truth. Anyone that approached her, American or not, was an enemy.

She curled into a ball, closed her eyes, and waited for the pain to hit.

**-O-O-O-O-**

Jack strode through the corridors of CTU with only one purpose: getting to Audrey. He had no idea what had happened to make everyone hate him so. The President had agreed with Jack's plan, and Bill had grudgingly given his consent as well. Now everything had changed. Release had come only after Jack had contacted Bill Buchanan, talked some sense into the older man, and asked for help. Finally, reluctantly, Bill had agreed to rescind the arrest order and release Jack. He wasn't allowed into the field, but at least he was out of Holding and free from those damn handcuffs.

Jack pushed open the door to the Medical bay, and was met by Dr. Besson. "Where's Audrey?" he demanded. "How is she?"

"Bad," Dr. Besson said grimly. "I don't know what the hell they did to her, but it's bad." He motioned to the doctor standing next to him. "You remember Dr. Carlson, don't you?" Jack nodded. (Elaine Carlson was very familiar to him. Twenty months ago, she had treated Audrey after Burke's interrogation, as well as after Henderson had stabbed her arm. Today, she had treated Jack twice in the nineteen hours that he had been back on American soil.) "We're going to see if there's a chance that Audrey recognizes her," Dr. Besson said. "Right now, Audrey's not letting anyone near her; maybe a somewhat familiar face will change that." He hesitated. "I'll let you go in, Jack. Maybe you'll be able to help us out." 

"And," Dr. Carlson added sternly, "You look like hell, Jack Bauer. When I'm finished with Audrey, you're coming with me, and I'm getting a look at you. You need medical treatment and rest."

"Don't worry," Jack said bitterly. "I'm not allowed out in the field. I'm stuck at CTU. I'll stay put in Medical."

Dr. Carlson glanced at him. "You're actually agreeing to stay in Medical? Either you really need to earn some good points, or you're really feeling rotten." Jack shrugged. The doctor shook her head. "You're a puzzle, Jack. And I'd love to figure out what goes on in your head." She motioned to the door. "I will, later. But for now, let's go check on Audrey." She pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

Audrey was huddled in a pitiful ball on the bed, warily watching the medical team. Tentatively, a technician stepped towards her, but something in her posture and gaze stopped him. Silently, he stepped back.

Taking a deep breath, Dr. Carlson approached the bed and knelt down so that she was at Audrey's level. "Ms. Raines," she said softly. "Audrey. Do you remember me?" There was no answer. "I'll take that as a no. That's all right." She watched Audrey curl into a tighter ball. "Relax," she soothed. "Audrey, I'm Dr. Carlson. You're at CTU. You're safe. We're not going to hurt you." She motioned to Jack. "Jack, I need your help. I need to get an IV in her arm and draw some blood. I'd like you to hold her and calm her down."

"You're forgetting one important fact," Jack told her. "Audrey doesn't recognize me. To her, we're all enemies. Any restraint at all is going to terrify her."

Dr. Carlson looked at him for a long moment. "I know that. I'm going to sedate her as soon as I can. Until I know what they've done to her, I can't do that. The medications could cause any number of problems. So, for now, I'm asking you to help me." Silently, Jack nodded. "Thank you," Dr. Carlson said quietly. She watched as Jack gingerly climbed onto the bed.

Audrey immediately cowered back against the headboard of the bed, pressing hard against the wall as if trying to make it absorb her and shelter her. Now she was trapped, and her head whipped from side to side as she rapidly looked for a way to escape. Jack swallowed hard, and reached towards her. Audrey put up no resistance; she allowed Jack to take her in his lap and cradle her against his chest. He knew exactly what she was thinking. Instinct told her to fight, to escape... but she was too afraid. She knew that, with Cheng, any resistance at all brought pain and punishment. Jack knew that; he had been in the same situation. He choked back the rage rising in him, and nodded to Dr. Carlson. "Do it. And hurry."

The doctor gently took Audrey's right arm. Jack felt Audrey flinch, and she trembled at the doctor's touch. Dr. Carlson tried to ignore the terror in Audrey's eyes and focus on the tasks at hand. She tied a rubber tourniquet around the young woman's upper arm and swabbed the crook of her elbow with alcohol. "All right, Audrey," she said gently. "I need to draw some blood." Elaine Carlson reached into the kit that she carried, and withdrew a needle and a vial. "Little stick coming," she said gently.

As quickly and gently as possible, she swabbed a spot on Audrey's arm with alcohol and inserted the needle, praying that she would reach the vein on the first try. Miraculously, she did. Quickly, she attached the vial and watched it slowly fill with blood. Audrey was trembling violently, and her breath was coming in shallow, panicked gasps. "I know this hurts," Dr. Carlson said softly. "I'm working as fast as I can." She drew three vials of blood, and then extracted the needle. "There. That's done."

She taped a cotton ball into place on Audrey's thin, bruised arm. "You're doing great, Audrey." A single tear slid down the young woman's cheek. "I'm so sorry," Dr. Carlson whispered, choking back tears of her own. What had Cheng Zhi done to this young woman to frighten her so? Dr. Carlson shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I know I'm hurting you, and I know you're scared. I promise that I'm working as quickly as I can. When I'm done, we'll leave you alone." Working quickly, she located another vein and started the IV. "There, all done. No more needles. You can relax."

Dr. Carlson nodded to Jack. "Let go of her. We're done for now. I'll analyze the blood and see if I can figure out what's up." She looked sympathetically at Audrey. "Let's leave her alone for now, and give her a chance to relax. I can check her over more thoroughly later, after she's calmed down a bit." She glanced at the vials of blood. "As soon as I figure out what's been done, I'll give her a tranquilizer. Right now, I need to make sure that nothing I give her will cause a counter-action and do something harmful." She gave Jack a sympathetic smile. "I'll be back later." With that, she collected her supplies and left the room.

Jack took a deep breath and sank into a chair in the corner of the room. He knew to stay away from Audrey for now; she didn't want to be hugged or held. He wouldn't touch her, but there was no way he was going to leave her.

5


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dr. Carlson knocked softly on the door of Audrey's room and stepped inside. Audrey was still crouched on the bed, warily eyeing her. Jack was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, dozing. He woke as the doctor entered the room, and immediately got to his feet. "Do you know what's wrong? What did they do to her?"

Dr. Carlson nodded grimly. "I do." She sat down in a chair across from Jack. "I'll tell you now: it is not gentle or pretty."

Jack swallowed hard. "Tell me." His voice trembled, then strengthened. "I want to know what those bastards did to her."

Dr. Carlson nodded. "All right." She glanced across the room to Audrey, who was hunched over on the bed, fidgeting and tugging at the ragged prison uniform that she still wore. "When the team brought her in, Jack, Dr. Besson took one look at her and informed me that Audrey looked like she'd been dosed with horse tranquilizers. She has. Literally. When I tested her blood, I found large doses of a drug called etorphine, or Immobilon. It's an animal tranquilizer, Jack. It's used on large animals, like horses or elephants. The dose they gave Audrey is more than enough to take down a draft horse. Right now, she probably feels like she's trying to walk underwater with lead weights tied to her. Immobilon has way of making your body feel like a dead weight. Why Audrey's not totally knocked out right now, I don't know. What I do know is that the Immobilon explains some of her behavior."

"Some? Why not all?" Jack demanded. "What else did they do?"

Dr. Carlson sighed, then shrugged. "I don't know. Right now, I can only guess. Ever heard of EST?"

"Electro-shock Therapy?" Jack asked. "Yeah, I've heard of it. You think that's what they did?" He looked like he was ready to punch something or someone, probably Cheng Zhi.

The doctor nodded. "It's a definite possibility. With EST—actually, it's called ECT now—the patient has temporary memory loss, but still recognizes loved ones... for the most part. However, this is Cheng Zhi we're discussing. If he did in fact use ECT, he most likely used more than the therapeutic level. He used it as a torture device. High amounts of ECT do cause calmness, but they also cause blurred vision, inability to walk straight, and inability to recognize people." She glanced sideways at Jack, and saw that he was struggling to control his emotions. "I'm sorry. I'll stop."

Jack shook his head. "No, no. Don't. I'm listening. What... what can you do? Can you help her?"

Dr. Carlson shifted in her chair. "Right now, I'm going to give Audrey a dose of Ativan. It's a mild sedative, and it will work with the Immobilon and put her to sleep for a while. That will give me an opportunity to examine her more thoroughly. Later, when the Ativan wears off, I'll give her a drug called diprenorphine, which will counteract the Immobilon and hopefully wake her up a bit. You need to keep in mind, though, that Immobilon and diprenorphine are both medications for animals. I don't know what they'll do to Audrey. All I know is that, right now, there isn't much else we can do."

Jack nodded tensely. "Please, do it. Help her however you can."

Dr. Carlson got to her feet. "All right. Let me go get the Ativan. I'll be right back."

The doctor returned shortly with a syringe. "Here we go." She glanced at Jack. "Do you want to stay while I work? If you don't, I understand."

Jack shook his head. "I'll stay."

"All right, then." Dr. Carlson took a deep breath, and stepped towards Audrey again. "Let's see here."

Audrey glanced up as Jack and the doctor approached the bed, and immediately shrank back. She shook her head rapidly. "No, no, no... please... no..."

"Easy," Dr. Carlson soothed. "Audrey, it's all right. I promise you, we're not going to hurt you. You're going to be fine." Moving slowly, she reached for Audrey's right arm. "I've got some medicine for you. I'm going to put it into your IV. Can I see your arm?" Slowly, calmly, she reached to take Audrey's hand.

That was too much for Audrey. Her crystal-blue eyes shot fire as she yanked her hand away from Dr. Carlson. Before either Jack or the doctor knew what was happening, Audrey lashed out and struck the doctor hard across the face. "Ow!" Dr. Carlson cried. The syringe fell from her hand and skittered across the floor as she raised a hand to her cheek, where a red welt was already forming.

Audrey froze, and her eyes widened in terror. She immediately wrapped her arms around herself and cowered back against the wall. "Please... please, don't... sorry... I'm sorry... please... don't... I'm sorry..." she gasped.

Dr. Carlson crouched down to Audrey's level. "It's all right," she said soothingly. "Audrey, look at me. Listen. It's all right. I'm not going to hurt you. Just relax." She kept up the soothing monologue, watching as Audrey gradually relaxed and lifted her head. "That's it, nice and easy. You're all right. I'm not going to hurt you."

Slowly, Jack picked up the syringe from the floor and handed it to the doctor. Keeping her eyes locked on Audrey's, Dr. Carlson took the syringe from Jack and uncapped it. "All right, let's see here." She took Audrey's hand again, and the young woman immediately jerked it away. "Take it easy," Dr. Carlson said calmly. "I'm not going to hurt you, Audrey. I promise. You're safe. No one is going to hurt you. We want to help you."

She reached for Audrey's hand yet again. Audrey tensed visibly, but Dr. Carlson maintained her grip. Audrey grew increasingly more agitated as she tried to yank her wrist from Dr. Carlson's grasp, and the doctor bit her lip. "I need help, Jack. Hold her arm still." Reluctantly, Jack did as asked, taking a gentle but firm hold on Audrey's upper arm. The young woman's eyes widened in panic, and she shifted uneasily. Moving quickly, Dr. Carlson screwed the hollow-tipped syringe into the port on Audrey's IV line and emptied the contents into the tubing. "There. Done. Quick, Jack, let go before she gets upset!" She removed the syringe, and Jack immediately released his hold on Audrey's arm. "See, all done. Relax, Audrey. You're all right. I've just given you a little something to help you calm down."

Jack and the doctor watched the Ativan begin to work its way through Audrey's system. Her body relaxed, and her eyelids began to droop. Her eyes were darting sluggishly from side to side, and Jack could tell that she was terrified. He longed to cradle her in his arms and reassure her, but all that he could do was gently hold her hand as the medication continued to set in. Gradually, her eyelids dipped and closed, and her breathing eased and deepened. "There," Dr. Carlson said quietly. "She's out." She glanced sideways at Jack. "This will let me examine her without scaring her. I need to see what the extent of her injuries is. It probably won't be pretty. If you need to leave, I'll understand."

Jack took a deep breath and shook his head. "I'm not leaving her."

Dr. Carlson nodded. "All right, then." She gently lifted Audrey's head. "Hold her up while I raise the bed." Jack did as asked, gently cradling Audrey's head and shoulders as Dr. Carlson raised the head of the bed to prop Audrey up in a sitting position against the pillows. She pulled a hair clip from her pocket and swept Audrey's hair up into a haphazard bun. "There. Hardly glamorous, but it'll keep her hair from getting in the way. Now, let's see here." Taking a deep breath, she eased Audrey's black prisoners' shirt up a bit. Jack's breath caught in his throat as he glimpsed a horrific array of scars and burns covering her frail body. Dr. Carlson closed her eyes briefly. "Well...can't say that either of us didn't expect that." Shaking her head, she slid the shirt up a bit more, displaying more ugly wounds.

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat. He knew what Cheng Zhi was capable of; he'd been tortured himself. But Audrey... He shook his head. Somehow, soon, he was going to find Cheng and get revenge. He owed it to Audrey. It was his fault that she had gotten in this situation in the first place; now it was his duty to resolve it.

Suddenly, Jack's gaze landed on a series of odd-looking scars that decorated the sides of Audrey's head near her temples, her wrists, her chest, and her neck. "Dr. Carlson," he said quietly. "What are those?" In his heart, he already knew the answer, and he desperately hoped that he was wrong.

He wasn't. Dr. Carlson looked grim. "Those are burns. Severe electrical burns. Burns of that severity only come from receiving severe electric shock... like high levels of ECT." Jack bit down hard on his lip. "Don't make your lip bleed," the doctor said over her shoulder as she continued examining Audrey. "I'll need to get some x-rays later, as well as an EKG. There's a possibility the ECT may have damaged Audrey's heart, and the EKG will let us know for sure. The x-rays will let me see if she has any internal injuries or broken bones that need treatment."

She gently laid Audrey back against the pillows. "The Ativan will make her sleep for at least four hours. When it wears off, I'll give her a dose of diprenorphine to counteract the Immobilon and wake her up a bit. We'll let her relax and settle in a bit, and later we'll run some tests and figure out what to do next." The doctor glanced sympathetically at Jack as she tucked the sheets around Audrey's thin, gaunt form. "I'll leave you two alone for now. Stay as long as you like; let me know if you need anything." She left the room.

4


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jack leaned forward and rested his head in his hands. After Dr. Carlson had finished treating Audrey, she had turned her attention to Jack. She had taped and bandaged his broken ribs, cleaned and sutured the cuts that covered his body, and given him a hefty dose of painkillers. He felt slightly numb, but at least the constant aching had disappeared. And, Dr. Carlson had listened to him and respected his wishes. She had given him just enough medication to eliminate any pain, but not enough to knock him out or disorient him. He was grateful for his mental clarity; he despised the fuzzy, muddled feeling that most painkillers left.

Audrey had woken up not long ago, and Dr. Carlson had immediately given her a dose of diprenorphine to counteract the megadose of Immobilon. The changes had been clearly visible. Her eyes still maintained that blank look, and she still didn't seem to recognize Jack, but she was much more alert and aware.

Movement in the corner of the room attracted Jack's attention. Audrey had climbed out of bed and was slowly making her way to the window. As Jack watched, Audrey painstakingly climbed onto the window seat and sat down, resting her head against the smooth window glass as she surveyed the sights outside.

Jack closed his eyes. The changes in Audrey were evident, but it was painfully clear that they still had a long way to go.

**-O-O-O-O-**

A sound from across the room caught Audrey's attention, and she curiously lifted her head. The man that they called Jack was still there, in the chair. He was staring into space, and Audrey saw tears shining in his eyes.

Audrey frowned, thinking. She remembered Jack. In the early days of her captivity, she had woken at night screaming his name, begging for him to come rescue her. She had clung desperately to the memory of his face and his words, even as all other memories faded and disappeared. She remembered his name, his voice... but his face was a blur in her mind.

Another thought pierced the murky fog in her brain. The Jack Bauer that Audrey remembered never cried. He never showed emotion. So, if this man in front of her now was indeed Jack, why was he crying? Was it because of something that she had done? That thought worried her. She didn't want to make anyone cry. What could she have done to make Jack cry?

Audrey decided that the specifics of _what_ she had done didn't matter just then. For the moment, all that mattered was that Jack was crying, and that Audrey needed to make him stop. She needed to make him laugh. Laughing was better than crying.

She got to her feet and made her way across the room to where Jack sat in the chair. Timidly, she reached out and placed a hand on his shaking shoulder.

**-O-O-O-O-**

Jack felt a hand gently touch his shoulder. Startled, he lifted his head... and came face-to-face with Audrey.

Hardly daring to hope, Jack reached out his hand. Audrey immediately retreated a few steps. Her body language clearly said, _That's too far._ Jack allowed his hand to drop back to his side. Audrey pulled up a chair, relatively close to Jack—not close enough to touch, but far closer than she had come before. With effort, she lowered herself onto the chair and pulled her legs up, resting her chin on her knees.

They sat there together; Jack with the tears drying on his cheeks, and Audrey with the menagerie of ghastly gashes and bruises that covered her face. Neither of them spoke. They simply sat, watching each other silently.

**-O-O-O-O-**

The diprenorphine was succeeding in doing its job, which was to counteract the Immobilon. However, the megadose of Immobilon was still strong in Audrey's body, and it and the Ativan were wreaking havoc on her energy. Jack practically carried her across the room to her bed. Initially, she protested and struggled against the contact, but her adrenaline and energy were all but spent, and she was threatening to collapse. So she quieted and allowed Jack to settle her in bed again. She was asleep again within minutes.

Jack smoothed the covers and pulled the tighter over Audrey's painfully thin, gaunt form. Then he left the room in search of Dr. Carlson. She was seated at her desk, poring over Audrey's medical results, and she glanced up as Jack entered her tiny office cubicle. "Hey there, Jack. How are you feeling?"

Jack shook his head. "I'm fine. The codeine injection is working wonders. But I didn't come to talk about me. I came to talk with you about Audrey."

Dr. Carlson immediately sat the files aside. "Gladly. What's on your mind?"

Jack glanced down at his hands. "Have you found anything? Is there anything we can do to help her?"

Dr. Carlson sighed and shook her head. "Not much. There are medications that we may be able to use to counteract some of what's been done, but they have significant side effects and risks. They should probably be a last resort. For now, our safest bet is keep talking to her; reassure her and keep her calm."

Jack raised his eyes to meet the doctor's. "Why... why doesn't she recognize me? She's saying my name; why doesn't she seem to know me?"

"It's the ECT," the doctor told him grimly. "High amounts of ECT cause inability to recognize people. In this case, Audrey recognizes your name, but not your face. Right now, I think it's a combination of ECT and mind tricks. Audrey sees you as her hope. She's probably spent the last several months saying your name and waiting for you to come find her. Her brain can't comprehend the fact that she's safe and that you're with her now. She's still waiting for you." She cocked her head. "All I can say is, just keep doing what you're doing. Sit with her; talk to her. Eventually, her memory will begin to rebuild itself, and then she should recognize you. Even if she doesn't recognize you nowshe can sense that you're comforting to her. She feels safe with you. She'll come around in time. For now, just let her know that you're there."

This explanation seemed to pacify Jack for the time being. Quietly, he thanked Dr. Carlson. Then, standing, he left the room to join Audrey again.

**-O-O-O-O-**

Dr. Carlson sighed wearily as she sat down in her desk chair again. She could see that Audrey Raines' treatment was going to take a substantial amount of time, and she knew that they had a long way to go.

The doctor smiled slightly. On the way back to her office, she had paused to peer into Audrey's room. Jack was curled up on the bed, holding Audrey close and hugging her protectively. His message was clear: he was going to take care of Audrey and be there for her, and there would be hell to pay if anyone tried to hurt her.

Their devotion and love for each other made the young doctor smile. It was wonderful to see how happy the two of them were, and how protective they were of each other. Dr. Carlson had an eight-year-old son at home, and he loved to watch the programs on the Animal Planet channel on TV. A program that she had watched with him recently had been about lions. The program had been filled with fascinating facts, but there was one specific one that she remembered: _If a lion is injured and the pack decides to leave it behind, its mate will stay with it and protect it._ Watching Jack and Audrey, that one fact kept returning to her thoughts.

Audrey was the injured female lioness, and Jack was the devoted, protective male lion... and Cheng Zhi was the prey that they both stalked. Like an angry lion, Jack Bauer wanted revenge. The desire and the need for revenge burned in his eyes. Dr. Carlson knew that, somehow, Jack would make Cheng Zhi pay for what he had done. It was just a matter of time.

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Good morning, Audrey," Dr. Carlson said cheerfully as she breezed into the room the next morning. Audrey looked at her dubiously, but the hint of a smile flickered on her thin, gaunt face. Dr. Carlson smiled back, pulling up a chair next to the bed. "Hi, there," she said calmly, wincing as Audrey shrank back slightly. "Too close. Okay, I get it." Slowly, she reached for Audrey's right arm. "Can I get a look at your IV?" Silently, obediently, the young woman allowed the doctor to take her hand and inspect the IV tubing. "Looks good," Dr. Carlson reported, releasing Audrey's wrist. "Just don't pull it out. It's not easy for me to access veins in your arms. I don't want to have to put the IV in your leg. That wouldn't be comfortable. So, don't pull out your IV. Think you can do that for me?" Audrey nodded silently.

"Thanks," Dr. Carlson told her. "Now, I'd like to get a look at some of those war wounds," she added, motioning to Audrey's body. "Is that okay with you?" Audrey didn't respond. Slowly, cautiously, the doctor reached out and placed a gentle hand on Audrey's side. Audrey flinched slightly, but didn't pull away. "I'm going to take that as a yes," Dr. Carlson remarked. "Okay."

Moving slowly, so as not to frighten Audrey, Dr. Carlson gently eased the young woman's hospital scrub shirt up, exposing the wounds that covered her back. "We'll get the nasty part out of the way first," she said softly, rummaging in the cabinet for a pack of gauze and a bottle of antiseptic. "This will sting a bit, and Audrey's probably not going to be happy with that," she added to Jack. "We'll get this over with, and then I'll see about washing off some of the dried blood. That'll feel a lot better. You want to give me a hand?" Obligingly, Jack climbed onto the bed and took a seat behind Audrey. By now, she was comfortable with his presence, and she calmly allowed him to pull her into his lap and cradle her against his chest while the doctor worked.

As gently as possible, Dr. Carlson dabbed at one of the gashes on Audrey's back. Audrey yelped and jerked back, grimacing. "Easy, easy." Dr. Carlson caught her wrist. "Sorry about that," she said apologetically. "I know that hurts. Just bear with me. I've got to clean these cuts. Trust me; you'll feel better when I'm done." Audrey didn't look pleased, but she nodded silently. "I'm not going to hurt you," the doctor assured her, knowing perfectly well what the young woman was thinking. "I know, you think you'll be in trouble if you fight back. I promise, you won't. I'm not going to hurt you. I won't punish you; you're not in trouble for any reason. Just relax."

Reluctantly, Audrey nodded. Jack was gently stroking her hair and running his fingers through it. Obediently, Audrey leaned her head against his chest and allowed the doctor to work.

"I'm proud of you," Jack whispered, watching Audrey flinch as Dr. Carlson cleaned a cut. "I know this hurts. You're being so brave, Audrey. I'm proud of you." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "We're almost done. Hang on." Audrey was trembling violently, and tears coursed down her cheeks, but she remained stoically silent and unmoving as Dr. Carlson worked. Jack smiled slightly as he played with a silky strand of Audrey's hair.

A long-forgotten memory rose to the surface, and Jack smiled. Bending over, he placed his mouth next to Audrey's ear and whispered to her, repeating a phrase that she had taught him long ago. _"Je t'aime. Tu as le courage d'un lion."_ Audrey started slightly and angled her head in Jack's direction, smiling shyly. Jack wasn't sure if she remembered or not, but he did. Holding Audrey close, Jack allowed his mind to drift...

**-O-O-O-O-**

"_Hey, Jack, dinner's here." Audrey turned from the doorway, holding a handful of Chinese takeout cartons. "I'm starving. Grab some plates, and let's eat. Plates are in the second cabinet," she added, pointing Jack in the right direction. He retrieved two plates, and they sat down to eat._

_The tiny circular table in the corner of the hotel room wasn't big enough, so they abandoned it and sat cross-legged on the floor with the food cartons between them. Audrey eyed the small table. "In a hotel room this big, you'd think they could give us a bigger table." Jack chuckled slightly. Audrey used the opportunity to reach over with her chopsticks and help herself to some of Jack's lo mein noodles. "There's plenty," she retorted in response to Jack's protest. "There's a carton full of lo mein right there. I can take a few noodles if I want them." She laughed as Jack responded by snatching a piece of sesame chicken from her plate. "So that's how it works? I can't steal your food, but you can take mine?"_

_Jack smiled wryly. "Yep."_

"_Fine," Audrey sighed. "Just don't eat my egg rolls." _

_Jack made a face. "I wouldn't dream of touching those things. Ugh."_

_Audrey couldn't help but laugh. "So, you don't like egg rolls. Fine; more for me."_

_Jack just rolled his eyes and took another bite from his plate of food. Suddenly, the light in his eyes faded, and he glanced down at his worn t-shirt and absently fingered a loose thread._

"_Jack?" Audrey asked worriedly. "What is it?"_

_Jack kept his eyes on his shirt. "I met with your father the other day," he said. "He's got a picture of your mother in his office, and he keeps her Bible on his desk. He says he's not a believer, but that your mother was before she died." Jack glanced up. "My mother took me to church when I was a kid. I was more interested in coloring with crayons in the hymnals than in listening to the sermons," he added wryly. "And when I wasn't doing that, I was smuggling my army men in my pants pockets and playing with them, making them capture 'enemy territory'—namely, the other pews. People around us were never very happy with me." He shook his head. "But, Audrey... all that stuff about God creating beauty... What would he want with someone like me?" Jack hesitated. "Teri... and all the other innocents that have been killed... I like to think that there's a heaven, and that they're there. But I know I never will be. I'm dirty. I'm covered in blood. Not even all the good I've done can wash that away."_

_Audrey met Jack's gaze. "Stop it. Don't think that," she ordered. "You are doing your job. You're protecting this country. You're a hero, Jack. Millions of people owe their lives to you—my father and I included. You're a good person, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." _

_She sat her plate aside and climbed up on the bed, sitting cross-legged and leaning over to look down at Jack. "Hey, the bed's comfier than the floor. Come on up." _

_With a little laugh, Jack joined her. Audrey leaned her head against Jack's chest as she spoke. "I've been all over the world with my father. I speak fluent French and German, passable Spanish, and a few words of Arabic. How many languages do you know?"_

_Jack gave her a look. "Why?"_

"_Just answer the question," Audrey said mildly. _

"_Fine," Jack grunted. "You're really one for random questions, aren't you? As an answer; I speak fluent Spanish and German, passable Russian, and crappy French."_

_Audrey smiled. "Repeat after me. _'Je m'appelle Jack Bauer_ —_ '_ " _

"_Even _I_ know that that means 'My name is Jack Bauer'," Jack scoffed. "My French is horrible, but it isn't _that_ bad."_

"_Just say it," Audrey ordered._

"_Fine. _Je m'appelle Jack Bauer._"_

" ' ...Et je suis fort, et j'ai le courage d'un lion_'," Audrey said next._

" ' Et j'ai —_'_ _What does that mean?"_

"_Say it first, ask questions later," Audrey replied. _

"_I'd really like to know what I'm saying," Jack grumbled, but he repeated, " ' _Je m'appelle Jack Bauer, et je suis fort, et j'ai le courage d'un lion.' "

_Audrey leaned over and gently kissed his cheek. "I know. And I'm glad you do, too."_

"_What did you just make me say?" Jack demanded._

_Audrey smiled. "You told me that your name was Jack Bauer, and that you're strong and you have the courage of a lion."_

_Jack shook his head. "_Merci_," he said gruffly, but he was smiling slightly. "Thanks."_

_Audrey smiled. _"De rien,"_ she answered. "You're welcome." _

_Together, they cleaned up the remnants of their meal, tidied the room, and got ready for bed. _"Tu as le courage d'un lion," _Audrey whispered as she slipped into bed and pulled the covers over herself. _"Je t'aime, Jack Bauer."

_She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard a soft laugh from Jack. Audrey fell asleep with a smile on her lips._

**-O-O-O-O-**

For the first time in a long time, both Jack and Audrey smiled genuine, happy smiles. They sat together, silent and unmoving, both lost in their own thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Audrey trembled slightly as she swiped at her eyes and tried to stop crying. The woman that they called Dr. Carlson smiled as she replaced the cap on the bottle of liquid that she had been using to clean Audrey's wounds. "There," she said quietly. "I'm all finished. It won't hurt anymore, Audrey. I promise." She stepped away from the bed, returning shortly with a cloth. "Let's see about cleaning off some of that dried blood. That will feel a lot better."

Audrey tensed as the doctor stepped towards her again. "Relax," Dr. Carlson soothed. "I promise, this won't hurt. It'll feel good, actually." Audrey frowned doubtfully, and the doctor laughed. "I know you're not happy right now, and you probably don't trust me. But I give you my word that I'm not going to hurt you." Audrey shook her head. She angled her head and glanced up at Jack, questioning him with her eyes. She knew he would never hurt her.

Jack sensed her questions, and he nodded reassuringly. "Dr. Carlson's telling you the truth," he assured her. "She's not going to hurt you." Audrey relaxed slightly, satisfied. Jack wouldn't let anyone hurt her. If he trusted the doctor, then she must be telling the truth. Slowly, reluctantly, Audrey nodded in consent.

Dr. Carlson smiled. "All right. Let's see here." Audrey flinched slightly as the doctor dabbed at one of the nasty gashes on her back. To her surprise, the woman had told the truth. There was no pain.

Audrey relaxed, enjoying the feeling as Dr. Carlson gently bathed her with warm water, wiping grime and dried blood from the gashes that covered her body. This was the first such experience that she'd had in a very long time. Cheng's men had rarely ever cleaned or bandaged the injuries that they inflicted on her. When and if they did, they used rubbing alcohol and dirty cloth bandages. (Audrey was almost thankful that they hardly ever cleaned her wounds, since the pain inflicted during the treatment was almost worse than the pain of the wounds themselves.) The occasional 'bath' was a grimy rag and a rusty metal bucket filled with icy cold, filthy water.

The soft cloths and warm water soothed the burning pain of Audrey's wounds, and she closed her eyes and savored the feeling. With her eyes closed and her head resting on Jack's chest, she soon drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

**-O-O-O-O-**

Jack smiled slightly as he carefully eased Audrey out of his lap and down onto the bed, trying not to wake her as he did so. She stirred slightly, but didn't wake. Jack slid off of the bed and stood.

Dr. Carlson smiled. "Good, she's sleeping. I think she could use the rest."

Jack ran a hand through his hair. "If her experience was anything like mine, she needs all the sleep she can get now. In Falun Dafa, the camp that I was in, I only got about four hours of sleep every night. I usually had hard, physical work to do every day. I forced myself to keep going. If I collapsed, they'd beat me, and that didn't help the situation. So I worked, and slept when I could. Sleep was a relief." He glanced at the neat white bandages that peeked out from under Audrey's wrinkled scrub top. "Thank you."

"For what?" Dr. Carlson asked, puzzled.

Jack motioned to the bandages, and the cloth that the doctor was wringing out. "For that. For cleaning her up." He sat down in a chair. "The guards at Falun Dafa hardly ever cleaned the injuries they gave me. If they did, it was with rubbing alcohol and grimy cloth. Baths were rare, and they were in metal buckets with cold water. Usually, they just dumped a pail of water over me and then left me alone. Something tells me that Audrey went through the same thing. You cleaning her cuts, and bathing her with warm water and a clean cloth, is probably the nicest treatment she's had in months."

He pushed up his right shirt sleeve and held his right arm out for Dr. Carlson to see. In dark blue ink, a number had been tattooed onto the inside of his forearm: 13481. "Cheng was the only one who ever called me by my name. To him, I was 'Mr. Bauer.' But it wasn't respect. It was an insult. He sneered when he said it. But the other guards never used my name. To them, I wasn't a person. I was a number, 13481. Like a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps," Jack added darkly. "They probably did the same thing to Audrey." Silently, Dr. Carlson pushed up Audrey's sleeve. Sure enough, there on her arm was a number: FD-98643.

"Why didn't I see that before?" Dr. Carlson exclaimed, startled.

"Because it was hidden by _that,"_ Jack replied, pointing to a long, jagged gash that ran down Audrey's arm. "It was hidden underneath all the blood." The doctor bit her lip hard. Jack met her gaze. "You cleaned Audrey's cuts with warm water and a clean cloth, and you called her by her name. You made her feel like a decent human being again. _That's _why I thanked you."

Dr. Carlson nodded, and Jack saw tears in her eyes. "You're welcome," she whispered. "It's the least I could do."

3


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

There was a soft knock at the door, and Audrey turned her attention away from the window and the sights outside. The door swung open to reveal Dr. Carlson. Audrey immediately took several steps backwards. She still wasn't sure if she completely trusted this woman.

Dr. Carlson smiled reassuringly, and held out her hand. "Relax, Audrey. I'm not going to hurt you. We need to run a few tests, though. I need you to come with me." Audrey shook her head, barely managing not to roll her eyes. Did they think she was stupid? Did they honestly think that she was going to willingly allow them to whisk her away somewhere and do God-knows-what to her? By now, she knew better. She had been beaten and tortured by Cheng's men far too many times to fall for any tricks.

Dr. Carlson held her hands in plain sight as she slowly stepped towards Audrey. "Wait," she said softly as Audrey began to back away. "Audrey, look at me. Look." She waited until the young woman hesitantly made eye contact with her. "I have something to say. Will you listen?"

Audrey knew what she wanted to say; she just had to make sure that it came out in English and not Mandarin Chinese. "No," she spat. "No. I won't." She was trembling. "Please, go. Go away."

The doctor hesitated, then nodded. "All right. I'm leaving." She looked at Audrey for a long moment, and then silently left the room.

**-O-O-O-O-**

Dr. Carlson nearly collided with Jack as she left Audrey's room. "How is she?" Jack asked.

Dr. Carlson shook her head. "The same. Audrey's still unsure on whether to trust me or not." She sighed. "I went in to talk with her and let her know that we need to run a few tests—an EKG, some x-rays, things like that. She's not buying it. She looked at me like I was crazy, and told me to get away from her. I could use your help, Jack. Audrey trusts you. _You_ talk to her; she'll listen to you."

Jack nodded. "I'll try." Crossing his fingers, he opened the door and stepped into the room. "Audrey?" She glanced up, and her eyes lit up. Jack smiled. "Hi. I just ran into Dr. Carlson," Jack continued carefully. Something flickered in Audrey's eyes. "Audrey, do you trust me?" Jack asked quietly. Audrey nodded. "Take my word for it, then. Audrey, I promise you that Dr. Carlson is not going to hurt you. I give you my word. She's trying to help you. She wants to run some tests and figure out how to help you." Audrey shook her head. Jack sighed. "Come here." Audrey allowed Jack to lead her over to the window seat. He guided her down next to him, and gently pulled her close. "Look at me, Audie. I promise that I'll stay with you. I won't let anything happen to you. I will stay right next to you, holding your hand, and I won't let anyone hurt you. That's a promise." He took her hand in his. "Okay?"

Audrey lifted her head and met Jack's gaze. Slowly, hesitantly, she nodded. Jack gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Okay, then." He got to his feet. "Let me go find Dr. Carlson. I'll be right back."

Dr. Carlson was waiting just outside the door, and she looked at Jack expectantly. Jack gave a silent, curt nod. "Audrey agreed," he said quietly. "Go ahead."

The doctor nodded. "All right. Let me go find Dr. Besson. We'll come get you when we're ready." She turned, and hurried briskly down the hallway. Jack pushed the door open and went to join Audrey.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and Dr. Besson poked his head into the room. "We're ready for you." Jack got to his feet and held out a hand to Audrey. Obediently, she allowed him to lead her out of the room and down the hallway. They followed Dr. Besson down the hallway to the dimly lit x-ray room. "We'll stop here first, and get some x-rays and an MRI," Dr. Besson said over his shoulder. "Then Dr. Carlson will come get you, and she'll take care of the EKG." He held out a hand to Audrey. "Come here, Audrey." She shook her head and took several rapid steps backward, and would have backed out the door if Jack hadn't caught her arm.

Dr. Besson and Jack spoke calmly and offered soothing reassurances. It took several minutes, but they finally convinced Audrey to agree to remain still and submit to the testing. Dr. Besson handed Jack a lead-lined apron. "You're welcome to stay with her." He smiled sympathetically at Audrey. "Everything's going to be just fine," he said soothingly. "Just relax."

For the next hour, Jack sat patiently by Audrey's side in the tiny, dimly-lit room as she endured several x-rays and a seemingly endless MRI scan. He could tell that Audrey was terrified, and he held her hand tightly and whispered soothing words, trying desperately to comfort her.

At last, after what felt like an eternity to everyone, Dr. Besson came back into the room and turned on the lights. "We're all finished," he announced. "You did great, Audrey. It's over now. You can relax." He extended a hand and helped Audrey sit up. "Just relax. Everything's fine." He motioned to Jack. "You can take her into the other room now. Dr. Carlson's waiting for you." With a nod, Jack got to his feet. He clasped Audrey's hand in his, and led her out the door and into the hallway.

Dr. Carlson was waiting in another room down the hallway. This room was brightly lit, with nothing "lurking" in the shadows. Audrey seemed a bit more willing to enter this room, and she followed Jack without protest. Suddenly, however, she stopped dead in her tracks and began to back up. "What is it?" Jack asked, bewildered. "Audrey, what? What's wrong?"

She shook her head rapidly. "No... no, no, no. Not again... please, no... no more." Tears were falling steadily down her cheeks, and she was trembling violently. "Please, no. No more. Don't do this. _Please."_

Dr. Carlson glanced at Jack. "What's going on? 'No more' what?"

In a split second, with almost horrifying clarity, Jack understood. "The EKG," he breathed. "Audrey's terrified of it." He met Dr. Carlson's gaze. "Don't you see?" She cocked her head, puzzled. "The ECT!" Jack exclaimed. "The electrodes, the monitor... The EKG machine looks like the machine that Cheng used during the electric shock treatment. Audrey thinks that you're going to torture her."

Dr. Carlson paled. "You're right. That's it." She looked at Audrey in horror. "I need that EKG, Jack... but it could destroy any trust that Audrey has in us. What do we do?"

"What we've been doing," Jack replied grimly. "Hold her and talk to her. And work fast."

Fear was choking Audrey; she couldn't breathe. Each wracking sob was followed by a frantic gasp for air. She pressed herself hard against the wall and willed it to absorb her and hide her. It didn't, and Dr. Carlson stepped closer. "Audrey..."

"_No!"_ Audrey's scream echoed in the room, making her own ears hurt. Dr. Carlson looked startled. "No," Audrey yelled again. "Get away from me!" She scrambled backwards, propelling herself away from the doctor. "Leave me alone." Dr. Carlson placed a gentle hand on her arm. Audrey slapped it away. "Get your hands off of me!" But the doctor wouldn't let go. She maintained her firm grip, holding tightly to Audrey's arm. "Let go," Audrey shrieked, clawing wildly at the doctor's hands. "Let go. Let go! _Let go of me!"_

"Audrey. _Audrey!" _Jack grabbed her other arm, holding it firmly. Now she was trapped between the two of them. She struggled frantically, but Jack maintained his grip. He slid his other arm around Audrey's shoulder, holding her still and pressing her firmly against him. "Give us a minute, please," he said over his shoulder. Dr. Carlson hurried from the room, closing the door behind her. "We're alone now," Jack said quietly. "Just you and me, Audie. No one else. Just relax."

The room was silent. The only sounds were Audrey's ragged, panicked breaths. Jack cradled her tighter against his chest. "Easy, easy. Just relax. You're all right, Audrey. Everything's fine. Relax." Audrey's back and shoulders were tense and rigid. Jack slowly ran his hand over her shoulders, rubbing gently in slow, soothing circles. He worked all the tension from her neck and shoulders, and moved to her back. Gradually, he felt her relax and go limp in his arms. "That's it, nice and easy. Shh, shh. Everything's fine. I'm here. You're safe. Just relax."

With tears still falling down her cheeks, Audrey tilted her head and glanced up at Jack. Her lips moved soundlessly as she tried to force out the words that she wanted. Jack placed a finger over her lips, shushing her. "Don't talk now. Just take it easy." Slowly, Audrey relaxed and rested her head on Jack's chest. "Good girl," Jack murmured into her ear. "Everything's fine." He stepped towards the door. "I'm going to go get Dr. Carlson now." Audrey grabbed wildly at Jack's arm, shaking her head pleadingly. "Easy, Audie," Jack whispered. "Easy. It's all right. Dr. Carlson's not going to hurt you, Audrey. I promise. You're safe." The doctor was waiting just outside the door, watching through the glass wall. Jack made eye contact with her and motioned for her to enter the room. Audrey tensed as Dr. Carlson stepped through the door. "Shh," Jack soothed. "You're safe. She's not going to hurt you." He nodded to Dr. Carlson. "Work fast. She won't stay calm for long."

Dr. Carlson stepped towards Audrey, holding a handful of stickers and gelled pads. "These are what we use to take the EKG reading," she said to Jack. "I need you to convince Audrey to let me put them on her." Audrey was already shaking her head. Her eyes were wide, and sheer terror was written plainly across her face.

Suddenly, Jack had an idea. "Put them on me." Dr. Carlson's eyebrow arched. "You heard me. Put the electrodes on me," Jack repeated. "If Audrey sees that you aren't hurting me, maybe she'll agree."

Dr. Carlson nodded. "It can't hurt. It's worth a try. All right, then, that's what we'll do. Come here." Obligingly, Jack sat down on the edge of the examining table and held out his arms. Quickly, efficiently, Dr. Carlson began applying the electrodes to Jack's neck and arms.

Audrey's eyes widened. "Jack..." She turned fiercely on Dr. Carlson, glaring at her. "Let him go."

"Audrey, it's all right," Jack soothed. "She's not going to hurt me. I'm fine." He held out his hand. "Come here." Audrey was trembling violently. "She's not hurting me," Jack said calmly. "See?" He nodded to Dr. Carlson. She finished applying the electrodes, and reached over to the EKG machine. Expertly, she keyed a set of commands into it and pressed a series of buttons. Audrey tensed as the machine began to beep. "Audrey." Jack kept his voice low and soothing. "Look. Nothing's happening. I'm not in pain. Everything's fine." He watched green lines march across the screen in peaks and valleys as the machine measured his heart rate and pulse. "See? Look. I'm fine." He glanced at Dr. Carlson. "You can unhook me now."

"Or maybe I should keep you hooked to it, and check you over while I've got the opportunity," the doctor replied, smiling slyly.

"No way," Jack protested. "That was not the deal. Audrey's your patient, not me."

Dr. Carlson laughed. "All right, all right. I'll let you go." She began to peel away the stickers that dotted Jack's neck and arms. "There, you're free. Now it's Audrey's turn. Think she'll agree?"

Jack turned to Audrey and displayed his arms. "EKG's are not ECT's. I did not get electrocuted. See, I'm fine. No red marks, no burns. I'm fine," he repeated as Audrey inspected his wrist closely. "No one hurt me." He motioned to Dr. Carlson. "Will you let her work now?" Audrey seemed to be considering the question. At last, she nodded hesitantly. Jack smiled. "Okay." He took her hand in his, and gently ran his thumb over her palm. "I'll stay right here. Everything's going to be fine."

"Okay, Audrey." Dr. Carlson smiled reassuringly. "Lie down for me." She eased Audrey down until the young woman was lying flat on her back on the table. Jack remained next to Audrey, keeping his gaze locked on hers and holding her hand, as Dr. Carlson applied the stickers and electrodes to the pulse points on Audrey's forehead, neck, chest, wrists, and ankles. "There we go," she said calmly. "Let's see what we've got here." Audrey tensed as the EKG began to beep and hum. "Easy," Dr. Carlson said soothingly. "You're all right. Everything's fine." Audrey was trembling, but she clung to Jack's hand and remained still and silent. She followed the EKG with her eyes as the green lines marched steadily across the screen.

"All finished," Dr. Carlson announced a few minutes later, turning the machine off. She unhooked the wires that were attached to the electrodes on Audrey's body, and began to peel off the stickers. "That wasn't too bad, was it? There we go. You can go now." She patted Audrey's shoulder and smiled.

Without a word, Jack led Audrey back to her room.

6


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks for all the reviews, everybody! I'm glad you're liking the story. And, wow, thanks for the wonderful compliments!!!! (I'm blushing.) Keep reviewing, and I'll keep writing._

Chapter 7

Jack sighed wearily as he watched Audrey sleep. She had fallen asleep almost instantly upon returning to her room after the tests, leaving Jack to pace and worry as he waited anxiously for Dr. Carlson to return and discuss the results.

Audrey shifted slightly in the bed, mumbling something incoherent in her sleep as she pulled the sheets tighter around herself. Jack smiled slightly, and reached out a hand to smooth the mussed covers. Absently, he toyed with the edge of the starched white sheet, twisting it around and around his fingers.

Behind him, the door slid open silently. Jack whirled, startled. Dr. Carlson stood in the doorway, quietly and slowly edging her way into the room. "Trying not to wake Audrey," she whispered to Jack, slipping fully into the room and silently closing the door behind her. "There we go." She glanced at the bed, and was relieved to see that Audrey was still sleeping soundly.

"Do you have the results?" Jack asked quietly, motioning to the folder in Dr. Carlson's hand.

The doctor nodded. "I do. But let's go somewhere else and discuss them so we don't wake Audrey up. How about my office?"

"Wherever," Jack replied. "Anywhere is fine. I just want the results." He got to his feet. "Let's go."

"There's not much room," Dr. Carlson said wryly as she tried to clear a space for them to sit in her tiny office cubicle. "Sorry." Finally, she managed to clear off two chairs. "There! Have a seat." Jack sank onto the spare chair, while Dr. Carlson sat down behind her desk. "Now, let's see here." She opened the file and paged through it, and then glanced up at Jack. "I'm just going to jump right in, if you don't mind. Let's get this out of the way." Jack nodded silently. The doctor went back to the file folder. "The MRI and the x-rays show evidence that Audrey had a severe concussion in the past," she said quietly. "They also show that she had several cracked ribs, a fractured ankle, and a dislocated shoulder... among other things." Jack's jaw clenched.

"But," Dr. Carlson added hastily, "there is some good news. Remarkably, there weren't any internal injuries. Also, I've looked at the results of the EKG scan. As far as I can tell—again, remarkably—the ECT did no damage to Audrey's heart. How, I don't know, but it didn't." She smiled. "You can relax. Audrey's going to be all right, Jack. It'll take time, but she will be all right."

**-o-o-o-o-**

"Jack?"

Jack glanced up, and started in surprise. Mike Doyle stood in the doorway of the room, watching the two of them. "Mike? What are you doing here?"

Doyle smiled wryly. "There's somebody here to see you."

"Who?" Jack asked warily.

Doyle smiled that same crooked, wry smile. "Don't shoot the messenger. I didn't have any part in this." He sobered. "Secretary Heller's here to see you and Audrey. And, Jack, he's pretty pissed at you. You'd better figure out how to suck up, or he's going to bite your head off."

Jack's stomach churned uneasily. "Wonderful... Wait. Did you say _Secretary_ Heller? He's still SecDef?"

Doyle nodded. "Apparently, the only lasting effects of the car crash were a severe limp, a leg brace, and a cane for support. Other than that, he's mostly fine."

Jack grimaced. "Power and anger. Great combination. I'm screwed."

Doyle smiled slightly. "Yeah. You are. So think fast." He hesitated. "How... how is she?" he asked hesitantly, motioning towards Audrey.

Jack shrugged. "The same. She seems to recognize me... or, at least, she's comfortable with me, even if she doesn't know me." He ran a gentle hand through Audrey's silky hair. "Dr. Carlson ran some tests today. She says that Audrey's going to be fine in the long run."

"Good." Doyle looked slightly uncomfortable. "Jack... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I've been acting like kind of an ass towards you."

Jack nodded curtly. "Thanks for the apology."

Doyle nodded. "You're welcome." An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Doyle cleared his throat. "Well... ah... I guess I should go." He left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

Jack sighed wearily as he ran a hand through his already-disheveled hair. "Your father is going to skin me alive," he muttered to Audrey's sleeping form. "I'm in some deep trouble."

"Yes, you are." Jack jumped, startled. He whirled around... and came face-to-face with James Heller. "Hello, Jack," the older man said coolly.

Jack shifted uncomfortably. "Hello, Mr. Secretary." He tried not to let his gaze linger on the cane in the older man's hand. "Is... is your leg bothering you? Sit down."

"Thank you." Heller's face was expressionless as he sank into a chair and laid the cane in front of him. He crossed his legs at the ankle, and the edge of his pants leg shifted up slightly, giving Jack a glimpse of part of a metal leg brace. Jack quickly averted his eyes, frantically searching for something, _anything, _else to rest his gaze on. Aside from Audrey's sleeping form, there was nothing.

Finally, he lifted his head and stared directly at the wall just behind Heller. Anything to avoid the older man's silent scrutiny. "Audrey seems to be doing better," he said hesitantly. "She seems to recognize some people now. Dr. Carlson ran some tests. She says that, in the long run, Audrey should be all right." Jack lowered his eyes a bit and met Heller's stony, icy gaze. "A while ago, I made a promise to your daughter, Mr. Secretary. I promised her that I wouldn't leave her, and that I wouldn't let anyone hurt her. And I told her that I would be there for her, for as long as it takes."

"No," Heller said icily. "You won't, Jack. Stay away from her."

"E-excuse me?" Jack stammered. "What?"

"You heard me," Heller snapped. "This is your fault, Jack. Audrey went looking for you in China, and _this _is how she came back. What happened is your fault and no one else's." He met Jack's gaze with a scathing glare. "You're cursed, Jack. Everything you touch, one way or another, ends up dead. Stay away from my daughter."

Silently, Jack turned away and left the room, pulling the door closed behind him. This was the last straw. Alone in the hallway, he leaned his head back against the cool cement wall and wept softly.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Mike Doyle glanced up to see James Heller limping across the room towards him. Doyle got to his feet. "Mr. Secretary, may I speak with you for a moment?"

Heller nodded. "Actually, I was about to ask you the same thing."

Doyle quickly put aside the file folder that he was holding. "Let's go somewhere a little less noisy." He led the way into the Situation Room and sank into a chair at the conference table. "It's a lot quieter in here. Now, what did you want to ask me?"

Heller smiled slightly. "They tell me that you played a critical role in bringing Audrey back safely. I wanted to thank you."

"Actually, sir, I'm not the one you should be thanking. I was only there to recover the component before it fell into Cheng Zhi's hands. Nothing else. I think you should be thanking Jack Bauer and the TAC teams," Doyle replied.

Heller scowled. "Jack is the reason that Audrey wound up in this situation. I'm hardly grateful for the state that she's in."

Doyle hesitated. "You're making a mistake, sir." Heller's eyebrow arched. "Jack didn't ask Audrey to go to China to look for him. She went because no one else would."

"That's not the point," Heller said icily. "Audrey went to China in search of Jack, and wound up in the hands of Cheng Zhi. If it wasn't for Jack, she wouldn't have gone."

"It's not like Jack sent Cheng a letter saying 'I'm in LA; please kidnap me'," Doyle shot back. "He didn't ask to be kidnapped and tortured. He didn't ask to be abandoned by his government so that Audrey was his only hope for rescue!" He met Heller's stony gaze. "Their devotion to each other is remarkable, sir. Audrey saw that the government was not going to do anything to secure Jack and bring him back to the United States, so she took matters into her own hands and found him herself." He paused, then continued. "And Jack never intended to let Cheng have that component. He was going to destroy it with a high amount of C-4 explosives as soon as he was certain that Audrey was safe. I saw that building. Had it been detonated, the amount of C-4 that Jack planted would have destroyed the component, and killed everyone in the building in the process. Jack was willing to sacrifice his own life to keep Audrey safe."

Heller said nothing.

Doyle met Heller's gaze with a challenging stare of his own. "Maybe I'm overstepping my bounds; maybe I'm out of line. But all I'm saying is that you might want to rethink your feelings toward Jack Bauer. In my opinion, you owe him a huge thank-you." Without another word, Doyle left the room, leaving Heller alone with his thoughts.

5


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Jack's chest ached with the pain of trying to swallow his tears. As a child, he had been rebuked sternly for crying. If he came into the house teary-eyed after a skirmish with a bully or a tumble from his new bicycle, his quivering lip was promptly and firmly slapped. Eventually, he learned to swallow his tears. The throbbing pain of forcing the sobs down into his chest was almost unbearable, but it earned his father's acceptance; he wasn't seen as weak then. That lesson had stayed with him all through life. Now, as an adult, Jack hardly ever cried. There were a few tears every once in a while, or the occasional shuddering sob, but for the most part he remained stoic and silent.

Fresh tears swam in Jack's eyes as he rested his head against the smooth concrete wall. _"__You're cursed, Jack. Everything you touch, one way or another, ends up dead."_ Heller's words echoed over and over in his head, bringing fresh, raw pain each time. He glanced through the glass wall of the clinic, watching silently as Audrey slept.

"Jack?" Startled, Jack lifted his head, and came face-to-face with Dr. Carlson. "Are you okay?"

Jack hastily wiped his eyes. "Yeah. Fine. I...ah...just got a bit of dust in my eye. I'm fine."

"Uh-huh. Right." The doctor's eyebrow arched. "Do I look stupid? You can't fool me. What's up?" Without waiting for an answer, she gently but firmly pulled Jack to his feet and propelled him down the hallway. "Come here." Obediently, Jack allowed himself to be led down the hallway to Dr. Carlson's small office. Leaving no room for argument, she pushed Jack down into a chair and sat down next to him. "We're alone now, Jack. No one can hear us. You don't have to hide. You can drop the tough-guy face. Talk to me. What's going on?"

"It's Heller," said a voice behind them. Startled, they both turned to find Mike Doyle leaning against the half-open door. Without waiting for permission or agreement, he stepped into the small room and nudged the door closed with his foot. "Sorry to barge in, but... can I say something?"

"Looks to me like you already are," Dr. Carlson replied. "But, yes, go ahead."

"I just spoke with Secretary Heller," Doyle said as he sank into a chair facing Jack and the doctor. "He's not exactly Mister Sunshine right now."

"You can say that again," Jack snorted.

"Okay. He's not exactly Mister Sunshine right now," Doyle repeated.

"Smart-ass." Jack made a face at him.

"Okay, okay. Sorry." Doyle held up his hands. "Sorry. Anyway, so, yeah, Heller's pretty steamed." He lowered his gaze a bit, and then glanced carefully at Jack. "He's blaming you for Audrey's condition, Jack."

Jack nodded. "I know."

"What, exactly, did he say?" Dr. Carlson asked cautiously.

Jack seemed to shrink as he slumped in the chair. "He... he told me that I'm cursed. He said that everything I touch ends up dead, and he ordered me to stay away from Audrey."

_"What?"_ Doyle and Dr. Carlson exclaimed in unison. "That's ridiculous," Dr. Carlson snapped.

"Maybe it's true," Jack whispered hoarsely.

Dr. Carlson whirled and brought a hand down on Jack's shoulder. Startled, he flinched as she gave his shoulder a firm shake. "Look at me, Jack." The doctor waited until Jack met her gaze. "Heller is angry. His anger is justified; this is his daughter. But he had no right to say that to you. You are absolutely not cursed. You haven't done anything. Do not, for one second, think that any of this is your fault. This is absolutely _not_ your fault. This is all Cheng Zhi's doing, not yours. Don't you _dare_ blame yourself. Understand?" Jack nodded silently. "Good." Dr. Carlson released his shoulder and sat back in her chair, exhaling hard. "Now that we have that out of the way, let's see what we can do. Jack, listen to me. We are going to do everything that we can to make sure that Heller doesn't keep you away from Audrey. If we have to go behind his back, so be it."

2


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

True to her word, Dr. Carlson did her best to allow Jack and Audrey to be together. She, Dr. Besson, and Doyle teamed up and worked together, cautiously going behind Heller's back. There were two guards posted at the door to Audrey's room, but Dr. Carlson, Dr. Besson, and Doyle quickly won them over and persuaded them to turn a blind eye and allow Jack and Audrey to be together.

"I'm not totally heartless," Doug, one of the guards, grumbled. "I got a wife and kid of my own." He glanced at Jack. "I'm not gonna stop you if you want to go in there and see your girl. But, for God's sake, be _careful._ Don't say a word. If Heller finds out, he'll have our jobs. And your head." Jack grimaced, but nodded.

"Hey, Doug, did you see something?" Joe, the second guard, spoke up. "I thought I saw someone go into Ms. Raines' room. But I don't see anybody there now. Must have been a shadow." He winked. "Go on, Jack." He held the door open and allowed Jack to step into the room.

"Thank you," Jack said earnestly. "Thank you both very much." He slipped into the room and pulled the door closed behind him.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Slowly, day by day, Audrey began to come out of her shell. She was still hesitant to make eye contact when spoken to, and she didn't say much, but it was a start. At least she had stopped cowering whenever anyone approached her. Her voice was raspy and weak whenever she spoke, which wasn't often, but it was slowly gaining strength as she gained confidence.

For the most part, Audrey kept her face a solemn mask. Occasionally, Dr. Carlson or Dr. Besson was able to elicit a small, almost non-existent smile, but it disappeared in seconds. Almost all of her tiny, shy smiles were reserved for Jack alone. Although still wary of others, she was completely at ease with him.

**-o-o-o-o-**

The days fell into a predictable pattern. Heller spent most of the day with Audrey, keeping a careful eye on Jack. In the afternoon, Dr. Besson or Dr. Carlson carefully persuaded Heller to take a break and go get something to eat. As soon as he was out of the room, Jack slipped inside and spent a blissful hour with Audrey. They held each other close, enjoying each other's company and savoring the short visits. _This is like a prison,_ Jack thought bitterly one afternoon. _Someone's always watching us. Time is limited; I've only got an hour. We have to be careful what we say. Somehow, this has got to end. _

He was seated on the window seat with Audrey, watching the scenery outside as he gently ran a brush through her long blond hair. Doug and Joe were positioned outside the door, keeping a wary eye out for any sign of Heller's return. Jack appreciated the help and the short visits. It wasn't much, but it was enough... for now. However, he and everyone else were busy thinking of a way to approach Heller. This wouldn't work for much longer.

2


	10. Chapter 10

_You guys are getting spoiled, LOL! I'm posting two chapters since Chapter 9 was kind of short._

Chapter 10

"Agent Doyle?"

He stopped. "Yeah?"

Dr. Carlson motioned him over to her. "I know you're not part of the Medical staff, and you probably have somewhere you need to be right now... but can you do me a quick favor?" she asked hesitantly. "Sorry."

"No problem," Doyle told her. "What do you need?"

"Out in the hallway, there's a tray on the table. Can you take it in to Audrey? It's her lunch and her medications. I'd do it myself, but I've got my hands full." She glanced at William McDonnell, the agent sitting in front of her on a stretcher. "Apparently, someone decided to use his body as a cushion for two bullets."

William smiled sheepishly. "Believe me, it wasn't by choice. Getting shot hurts. It's not something that I do voluntarily."

"Good," Dr. Carlson replied dryly. "Don't." She inspected the wounds. "It looks like this one here on your side is just a graze wound. I can fix that with a few sutures. It's this one on your arm that needs work. The bullet didn't hit any arteries in your arm, thank God, but it did nick a vein, and I'm having trouble getting the bleeding to stop. Once I get that under control, you get to take a tour of the OR while I remove the bullet and patch you up."

"Thrills." William winced as Dr. Carlson applied firmer pressure to the wound on his arm. "Ow!"

"Sorry. Hold that gauze in place and keep pressure on it while I go get a suture kit for your side." Dr. Carlson stepped away from the stretcher.

Doyle stepped aside. "I'll let you do your work; meanwhile, I'll go take that try to Audrey."

"I'm swamped right now. Thank you!" Dr. Carlson called over her shoulder, giving him an incredibly grateful glance. "I owe you one."

"No problem. You're welcome." Doyle strode away down the hallway, leaving Dr. Carlson to her work. He collected the tray from the table, and headed towards Audrey's room.

He slowed his pace as he reached the door to her room. Doug and Joe nodded to him, and held the door open to allow him to enter the room. Doyle knocked softly on the door before stepping inside. "Ms. Raines? Audrey? It's Agent Doyle." There was no answer. Not wanting to wake her if she was sleeping, Doyle fell silent as he slowly entered the room.

The first thing he noticed was that Audrey's bed was empty. He frowned slightly, but then relaxed as he glimpsed light spilling from under the bathroom door. "Audrey," he called quietly. "Dr. Carlson sent me with some food and your meds. I'm going to leave the tray next to your bed, all right?" He placed the tray on the table, and stepped away from the bed.

As he did, he caught a glimpse of the sink outside of the small bathroom, and stopped cold. Bright red blood was splattered across the white porcelain, staining it like crimson fire.

Moving quickly, Doyle hurried across the room and rapped sharply on the bathroom door. "Ms. Raines, are you all right?" There was no answer. Doyle knocked a second time, louder this time. "Audrey, it's Agent Doyle. I need you to open the door, okay?" Still no answer.

Doyle tested the doorknob. He breathed a sigh of relief to find it unlocked. Without a second thought, he pulled the door open and burst into the room. Audrey was sitting in a crumpled heap in the corner of the room, and Doyle hurried to her. "Ms. Raines? Audrey, can you hear me?"

She lifted her head and met his gaze. Doyle was startled by the wild, haunted look in Audrey's eyes. "It won't come off," she whispered hoarsely.

"What?" Doyle asked quietly. His mind raced frantically. "What's wrong?"

Audrey pointed to her right arm. "It won't come off," she whimpered plaintively. "I can't get it off."

Doyle glanced down, and his eyes widened. The inside of Audrey's forearm was raw and red. The skin had been scratched and clawed viciously, and bright red blood oozed freely from the wound. A number tattooed in dark blue ink, FD-98643, was barely visible through the mess. Suddenly, with horrifying clarity, Doyle understood. Audrey had gouged and scratched at the tattoo in hopes of removing it.

As he watched, Audrey began frantically clawing at the tattoo again, seemingly oblivious to the pain of the raw, bleeding wound and the deep scratches that she was inflicting. "I can't get it off," she whispered again. "It won't come off."

Doyle caught her left hand, firmly pulling it away from the bleeding wound. "No," he said firmly as she struggled to reach the tattoo again. "Audrey, look at me," he added in a gentler tone, waiting until she lifted her head. "That's not going to make the tattoo go away. All you're doing is hurting yourself. You need to stop." He grabbed a handful of paper towels and pressed them firmly against the bleeding gash. Audrey whimpered as the rough edges of the coarse paper scraped painfully against the raw wound. Doyle whispered an apology, but kept applying firm pressure.

Gently, carefully, he pulled Audrey to her feet and half-led and half-carried her over to the bed. "Audrey," he said quietly, waiting until she made eye contact. "I'll be right back. I need you to keep pressure on that wound. Keep holding those paper towels there until I get back. Can you do that?" Slowly, silently, Audrey nodded. "Okay. I'll be right back." Doyle straightened, and hurried towards the door.

"You look like you saw a ghost," Joe told him. "Everything okay in there?"

Doyle shook his head. "No, not really. Dr. Carlson's busy, but I need somebody in there. Where's Dr. Besson? Get him in here now."

His tone shocked the guards into obedience. They didn't ask questions, just hurried to obey. Doug rushed to find Dr. Besson, while Joe followed Doyle back into Audrey's room. Together they calmed Audrey and took turns applying fresh paper towels to the wound, sighing with relief as the bleeding began to slow.

"What's going on?" Dr. Besson hurried into the room, taking in the scene with one glance. His eyebrows arched as he spotted the small trash can in the corner of the room filled with crumpled, bloody paper towels. "What happened here?" Doyle quickly explained, and the doctor nodded grimly. "I see. All right, Audrey, let's see what we have here." His eyes widened as he saw the raw, bloody mess on the inside of Audrey's arm. "You certainly did a number on yourself, my dear. This is quite a mess. All right, let's go into one of the treatment rooms and fix this up."

"No," Audrey replied stubbornly, pressing back against the bed pillows.

Dr. Besson smiled. "Sorry, Audrey, but this one's non-negotiable. I need to patch that up." He boosted her to her feet as easily as if she was a giant doll, and half-led and half-carried her into a treatment room. "Can somebody go find Jack?" he added as an afterthought. "Just don't let Heller see him."

Joe smiled slightly. "Heller's sick with the stomach flu, so he's resting up at home. He's out of our hair for awhile. I'll go get Jack." He left the room, returning momentarily with Jack hot on his heels.

Jack went immediately to Audrey's side, hugging her tightly. His eyes darkened as he listened to Doyle's explanation of what happened. "What can we do?"

"Treat it," Dr. Besson replied, assembling a myriad of supplies on the bedside table. "I'll suture those cuts, and give her some antibiotic cream and a cold pack for the raw area. Then we can find Dr. Carlson and talk about what to do next." He gave Audrey's shoulder a reassuring pat. "Everything's going to be all right, Audrey. We're going to fix this up for you."

Jack cradled Audrey in his arms, holding her close against his chest and running his fingers through her hair to soothe her. He whispered reassurances and soothing words as the scratches on her arm were stitched and bandaged, and as an ice pack was applied to the chafed, raw area around the scratches.

At last, Dr. Besson straightened up. "There. All finished." He smiled sympathetically at Audrey. "I'm all finished. It shouldn't hurt anymore. You can relax now." He glanced at Jack. "You can take Audrey back to her room. I'll let Dr. Carlson know what happened, and I'll send her in to talk with you when she gets a chance."

Jack and Doyle thanked the doctor, and together they led Audrey back to her room to wait for Dr. Carlson.

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	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Dr. Carlson breezed into the room a few hours later. She smiled at Audrey, but her brown eyes held an expression that neither Jack nor Doyle could read. "I hear we had a little incident earlier, eh?" she asked briskly. Doyle and Jack nodded silently. Dr. Carlson glanced at Audrey, who was running her thumb over the white gauze and adhesive tape that covered the scratched, chafed area on her right forearm. "Don't even think about pulling those dressings off, Audrey," Dr. Carlson said. Her tone was light and teasing, but it held an underlying note of sternness. Audrey nodded in understanding. "Good. Thank you," Dr. Carlson added. "Now, let's talk about a plan." She pulled up a chair and sat down next to Audrey's bed, taking the young woman's hand in hers. "It goes without saying that we can't just let Audrey go around clawing at her arms and scratching them raw," she said dryly. "So, I think I've got an idea."

"I'd like to hear it," Jack said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"Cover-up work," Dr. Carlson told him. "I have a doctor friend that is an excellent plastic surgeon. I'd like to get him to work on Audrey. He'd use plastic surgery and skin grafts to cover up that tattoo, and he'd probably agree to cover this, too," she added, indicating the thick, ugly scar on Audrey's left wrist.

"I like that idea," Jack agreed. He glanced at Audrey. "Do you understand what Dr. Carlson is saying, Audie?" Audrey nodded.

"What do you think, Audrey?" Dr. Carlson asked gently. "Would you be willing to let my friend work with you? He'd be able to get rid of some of those ugly scars. Would you like that?"

Audrey nodded again. "Yes," she said quietly.

Dr. Carlson smiled. "All right, then." She got to her feet. "I'll get in touch with my friend, and see what he can do." She left the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

**-o-o-o-o-**

At seven o'clock the next morning, Jack was greeted by a knock at Audrey's door. Quickly, he crossed the room and opened the door. "Audrey's still sleeping," he said quietly, "but come in."

Dr. Carlson stepped into the room, followed by a doctor that Jack didn't recognize. He was tall, with thick black hair, and he had a mustache and a short, close-cropped beard. "This is the doctor that I talked to you about, Jack," Dr. Carlson explained, closing the door behind them. "This is Dr. Alex Kane. Alex, this is Agent Jack Bauer."

"Nice to meet you, Agent Bauer," Dr. Kane said, holding out his hand for Jack to shake.

Jack returned the gesture. "Please, call me Jack. Agent Bauer's too formal, and anyone here will tell you that I'm not one for formality."

"All right, Jack it is," Dr. Kane said with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Jack."

"Have a seat," Dr. Carlson offered, pulling up three chairs and sitting down in one. Jack and Dr. Kane took the other two.

Dr. Kane glanced at Audrey. "Is it all right if I wake her up?" he asked apologetically. "I apologize for the relatively early visit, but I have to be at my clinic by nine, and I wanted an hour or two to meet you and talk."

Jack nodded. "Yes, that's fine. I should probably be the one to wake her up, though," he added quickly.

Dr. Kane nodded. "Of course."

Jack got to his feet, and crossed the room to stand next to Audrey's bed. He smoothed a wayward strand of hair off of her forehead, and gently shook her shoulder. "Hey, Audie. Are you awake?" He waited a few seconds as Audrey's eyes fluttered open. "Hey," he said with a smile as she regarded him sleepily. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty. Rise and shine. Time to wake up. There's someone here to see you." Audrey groggily opened her eyes the rest of the way and sleepily scanned the room. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she caught sight of Dr. Kane, and she shrank back against the pillows.

"Relax, Audrey," Dr. Carlson spoke up. "This is my friend, the one that I told you about yesterday. It's all right. He's not going to hurt you. He's going to see what he can do to help you."

Dr. Kane stepped closer to the bed. "Hi there, Audrey," he said kindly, holding out his hand for her to shake. Audrey flinched, shrinking away from the offered hand. "Easy," Dr. Kane said calmly. "It's all right." Gradually, Audrey realized that this new stranger wasn't going to strike her. She relaxed slightly, and shyly reached to return the handshake. Dr. Kane smiled. "Nice to meet you, Audrey. I'm Dr. Alex Kane. I'm a friend of Dr. Carlson's. I'm a plastic surgeon, and Dr. Carlson called me in to take a look at you. I'm going to try to see how I can help you, all right?" Audrey nodded once. "Okay, then, let's see here. Is it okay if I unwrap this dressing?" he asked Dr. Carlson. She nodded. Dr. Kane took Audrey's hand in his, and began to remove the layers of gauze bandages from her arm. In moments, all of the wrappings lay in a wadded ball on the bed, and everyone in the room got a glimpse of the raw area on Audrey's inner arm. It was red, irritated, and ugly, and lines of black stitching ran across it. "Yuck," Dr. Kane commented. "This is a mess. Jesus, Audrey, what did you use? An ice pick?"

"Should have," she said hoarsely. "No, I used my fingernails."

Dr. Kane's eyebrows arched. "You've got some sharp fingernails, my dear." He examined the wound. "I should be able to fix this, and your wrist as well." He met Audrey's gaze. "I'm going to fix this for you, Audrey. I'm going to do a little surgery, and we'll fix this up as good as new. Okay?" She nodded silently. Dr. Kane sat back in his chair. "I'll use a combination of skin grafts and plastic surgery. I'll take healthy skin from somewhere on your body—probably your side or your leg—and graft it with the skin on your arm and your wrist to cover the tattoo and the scar. You follow me so far?" Audrey nodded again. "Is this whole idea okay with you, Audrey?" Dr. Kane added gently. "If not, you can say so. We don't have to do this. No one's making you. We just think that it would be easier to patch up some of the scars. We don't want you clawing all of your skin off, after all," he added wryly. "But if you don't want to go through with the surgery, I can try to think up something else. Tell me the truth. Is this okay with you?"

Audrey nodded. "Yes."

Dr. Kane nodded. "All right, then. I'll pull my team together, and we'll get to work on a plan." He started to say something else, but then changed his mind. There were a few seconds of silence, and then he spoke. "Jack, I... ah... I couldn't help noticing your hand."

Self-consciously, Jack allowed his good right hand to cover the gnarled, burned, scarred skin on his left hand. "Yeah."

Dr. Kane hesitated. "If you'd like, I could work on it. Nothing major, just try to even out and minimize some of the scarring."

Jack glanced at his hand. "I... I'd like that. Thank you."

Dr. Kane nodded again. "You're welcome." He got to his feet. "I need to head on over to my clinic and get the day started there. I'll talk with my team, and we'll start putting together a plan. I'll be in touch with you."

"Thank you," Jack said quietly, speaking to both Dr. Carlson and Dr. Kane. "Thank you for helping Audrey, and thanks for offering to help me."

"You're quite welcome." Dr. Kane smiled. "I'll be back later." He left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

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	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Audrey?" She woke to a quiet voice and a hand gently shaking her, rousing her from her slumber.

"Mmph," she muttered, but forced her eyes open.

Dr. Carlson was leaning over her. She smiled as Audrey opened her eyes. "Morning, Miss Sunshine. Up and at 'em." She sensed Audrey's confusion, and quickly explained. "It's Thursday. Your surgery's this morning, remember?" Recognition flickered in Audrey's eyes, and Dr. Carlson continued. "It's 4:45. The technicians are here to take you and Jack into surgery. Can you sit up for me?" Slowly, Audrey pulled herself into a sitting position. "There." Dr. Carlson stepped back, giving Audrey's hand a reassuring squeeze as she did so. "Everything's going to be fine."

A technician appeared from somewhere. He was a tall man with unruly blond hair, a cartoon alien on the shirt pocket of his green surgical scrubs, and a friendly smile. "Hi there, Audrey. I'm Dr. Harvey, the anesthesiologist. I work with Dr. Kane. I need to put an IV in your arm, all right?"

"Jack," Audrey whispered, looking around the room nervously.

"I'm right here, Audie," Jack spoke up reassuringly. "But they need to get me ready for surgery, too, so they can fix my hand. Remember?"

"Tell you what," Dr. Harvey said calmly. "Get up, Jack." Jack immediately climbed down out of the bed on the other side of the room, and Dr. Harvey pushed that bed alongside Audrey's. "There. Now you're next to each other. Look, Audrey, you can see Jack. All right, people, as you were." The team of technicians resumed their work. Dr. Harvey turned his attention to Audrey, taking her right hand in his. "Let's see. How about making a fist for me?"

"I wish I would have thought ahead; we would have left your IV line in, Audrey," Dr. Carlson commented. (She had disconnected Audrey's IV tubing, leaving only the access port in her arm, but that too had been removed the afternoon before.)

"That would have been helpful," Dr. Harvey remarked. "But you didn't, so it's not." He examined Audrey's arm, searching for a vein. "Ah, good, you're an easy one. Here we go."

Audrey bit her lip as Dr. Harvey located a vein and tied a rubber tourniquet around her upper arm. "Easy, Audie," Jack soothed. He reached his hand between the bed railings and took Audrey's non-IV hand. "Hold my hand. Look at me, not them." He did his best to ignore the second technician that was preparing to assemble an IV in his arm.

They held hands and kept their gazes locked on each other as the technicians assembled the IV's. Both Jack and Audrey winced at the needle's sharp sting, but they simply squeezed each other's hand and smiled bravely.

"Terrific. I'm out of tape."

"All done, Audrey. Here, take mine," Dr. Harvey added, taping down Audrey's IV line and handing his roll of tape to the technician working on Jack's IV. The man took it gratefully, and finished taping Jack's IV line into place. "There we go," Dr. Harvey announced. "All done. You two handled that wonderfully."

"Thanks," Jack told him, giving Audrey's hand a gentle squeeze. "Now what?"

"Now you get to sit tight for a few minutes while we finish prepping you, and then we're going to head into the pre-op area and sedate you for the surgery. Once you're asleep, we'll go into the OR and get to work," Dr. Harvey answered.

Jack nodded. "All right."

He sat next to Audrey, holding her hand and offering reassuring words, as the small room buzzed with activity. Teams of technicians bustled around the room, working on various preparations to get Jack and Audrey ready for surgery. Obediently, they sat still as the technicians hooked the two of them to a tangled myriad of wires, machines, and tubing.

"Okay, you two. It's show time." Dr. Kane appeared from somewhere, dressed in green surgical scrubs. "The transport team's here to take you into surgery." He smiled reassuringly, looking at Audrey. "Don't worry, Audrey. Everything's going to be just fine. We're going to take good care of you, and Jack too. You're both going to be fine." She nodded silently, but took a tighter grip on Jack's hand.

They clung to each other, holding hands tightly, as they were transferred onto stretchers for the short trip into the pre-op room. Jack kept his gaze locked on Audrey's, silently reassuring her, as the stretchers were taken through a corridor. They came to a stop in front of a set of metal doors. The doors swung open, and Jack and Audrey were wheeled into the brightly-lit, immaculate pre-operations room.

The technicians thoughtfully positioned the two stretchers side-by-side, allowing Jack and Audrey to watch and talk to each other, as they worked around them. Audrey tried to ignore the whirlwind of activity around them as nurses and doctors tended to them and went through the rest of the pre-operation procedures.

Dr. Harvey appeared from somewhere, pushing a small cart. "All right, you two. Time to get some shut-eye."

"Wait," Jack said quietly. Dr. Harvey glanced at him. "I want to be awake for Audrey," Jack said, somewhat shyly. "Could you take care of her first?"

Dr. Harvey smiled. "Sure, no problem." He turned his attention to Audrey. "Hi, Audrey. I've got some medicine for you. I'm going to put it into your IV, all right?" She lay rigidly on the stretcher, eyeing the doctor, as he screwed a hollow-tipped syringe into the port on her IV line. "It's all right," Dr. Harvey said soothingly. "This is just a little something to help you relax. You're going to feel really sleepy soon, okay?"

Jack squeezed Audrey's hand gently. "I'm right here, Audie. I'm not going anywhere. Everything's going to be fine." He and the doctor watched as the medication began to work its way through Audrey's system. Her body relaxed, and her eyelids began to droop. Her eyes were darting sluggishly from side to side, and Jack could tell that she was terrified. He longed to cradle her in his arms and reassure her, but all that he could do was gently hold her hand and whisper soothing words as the medication continued to set in.

Dr. Harvey reached over to the cart and picked up a small plastic mask. "Okay, Audrey. This is the other anesthetic; the sleeping gas." He gently cradled Audrey's head, and slipped the mask over her nose and mouth. Her eyes widened, and her next breath came as a panicked, desperate gasp that sent her into a fit of coughing. "Easy," Dr. Harvey soothed. "Everything's fine. I know it smells funny, but try to relax. Take deep breaths." Audrey tried her best to do as he asked. "Good. Now, just breathe normally. Relax; let the medicine do its work." Gradually, Audrey's eyelids dipped and closed, and her breathing eased and deepened. "And... she's out," Dr. Harvey remarked with a smile. "Okay, Jack. Your turn."

Jack watched the doctor screw a syringe into his IV line and empty its contents into the tubing. He followed the liquid with his eyes as it traveled through the length of the IV tubing and dripped into his arm. "There," Dr. Harvey said. "Now we'll wait a minute for that to take effect." In seconds, Jack felt the medication numbing his mind and body. Dr. Harvey slipped a mask over his nose and mouth. "I'll say the same thing to you that I did to Audrey. This is the anesthetic, the sleeping gas. Take a few deep breaths," he instructed. Jack did as requested; taking three deep, even breaths. "Good. Now, just breathe normally. Relax; let it do its work." The medication was making Jack woozy; everything was muffled and sounded as though it was being broadcasted through a tape recorder that was playing in slow motion.

Jack's eyelids were drooping from the medication's effects. He closed his eyes, and a curtain of heavy darkness descended over him as he drifted off to sleep.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Audrey moaned as she slowly came to. Her eyes felt as though they had been sealed closed with glue, her throat was scratchy and sore, and her body felt like a lead weight. Seconds later, the numb, weighted feeling was replaced by excruciating pain. _What the...?_ Her right arm throbbed, but it was minor compared to the pain in her leg. Her upper right leg felt as though it was on fire. The pain throbbed and pulsed, and it was almost more than Audrey could bear. It brought back memories of excruciating, agonizing torture in China, and she squeezed her eyes shut to try and keep the pained tears at bay.

Next to her, Dr. Kane was instantly alert. He leaned over her and placed a gentle hand on her arm. "Audrey, hey... Can you hear me? You're in the Recovery room; your surgery's over. You with me?" A sound escaped her throat that was somewhere between a moan and a cry. "Easy, easy," Dr. Kane soothed. "Just take it easy. You're all right."

Audrey shook her head no. "Hurts," she moaned through clenched teeth. "Really..._really_...hurts."

"What hurts?" Dr. Kane asked quietly.

"Leg," she whimpered. "Fire. What...did you...do...to me?" The pain intensified, and she gasped as she clutched her blankets in a white-knuckled grip. "Aah..."

"Okay...easy, easy. Here." The doctor reached over to adjust one of the monitors that Audrey was attached to. "I've just given you a pretty hefty dose of painkillers. That'll help." He gently squeezed her hand. "We used skin grafts to cover the tattoo on your forearm. We used your right leg as the harvest site; that's where we took the grafted skin from. That's why your leg hurts."

Audrey nodded in understanding. "O...kay. I...get it." She winced. "Still...hurts, though."

"I know. The pain meds will kick in soon. Hang in there." Dr. Kane patted her shoulder.

"Ja...ck?" Audrey croaked.

"He's fine," Dr. Kane told her. "His surgery went great; so did yours. He's still sleeping. Look, he's right next to you." Audrey turned her head, and saw Jack on a stretcher to her left, sleeping soundly. She smiled slightly. "He'll be all right, and so will you," Dr. Kane said gently. "You're both going to be fine. Just relax. You'll feel better soon." He got to his feet. "I need to go now. I'll be back to check on you later. Just hang in there." With that, he disappeared from her line of vision.

Audrey closed her eyes again, blinking back pained tears. She prayed that the pain medication would take effect soon; the pain in her leg was rapidly becoming unbearable. Soon she would be at her limit, unable to tolerate any more.

She gritted her teeth, trying to block out the images that danced and flickered at the back of her mind: images of China, of the prison, of Cheng, of the horrible torture that they had put her through...

With those images came others. Audrey's eyes flew open, and she clutched at her bedcovers as the images came faster and faster. They came one after the other, tumbling on top of one another, bringing a flood of emotions along with them. Audrey moaned. "No," she gasped. "No...no..." She clamped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the flood of memories and emotions. "No! No, no, no!"

Across the room, Dr. Kane glanced up. His eyes widened, and he hurried to Audrey's side. "Hey, hey...take it easy. Relax. You're all right." He inspected the monitors next to the bed. Audrey's heart and pulse rate were climbing rapidly, while at the same time, her oxygen level was falling just as rapidly. "Take it easy, Audrey. What's wrong? Audrey, look at me. Are you in pain?"

She shook her head no. It was a lie; her leg was on fire, but that didn't matter now. All that mattered was the flood of memories that continued to assault her. "Make...it...stop."

"What, Audrey? Make what stop? What's wrong?" Dr. Kane pressed.

"Memories. I remember...everything. I remember...it...all...Please make...it stop..." Her breath caught in her throat, and her lungs burned for air. Though she gasped for breath, the lump in her throat and tightness in her chest allowed no relief. The awful pinched sound of her labored and ineffective breaths filled her ears. Her heartbeat quickened in panic.

The myriad of machines began to beep in alarm and protest. "Easy, Audrey," Dr. Kane soothed. "Quiet, guys," he added to the machines. "You're not helping." They continued to beep. He punched in a few commands, and the alarm volume instantly quieted considerably. "There. Now, Audrey...come on, take it easy." Dr. Kane lifted her head a bit. "Take a deep breath. In through your nose, out through your mouth."

She was beyond hearing him. Her eyes were fixed on some unseen thing in the distance, and she stared past him at whatever she was seeing. "Make it stop..." Her head moved back and forth on the pillow as she shook it from side to side, over and over and over again. "No...no...please, stop..."

A technician appeared next to Dr. Kane. "What's going on, Doc?" he asked, glancing at Audrey.

Dr. Kane shook his head. "No idea. She just keeps saying, 'I remember' and 'Make it stop.' " He glanced over his shoulder at Jack, and saw that he was beginning to stir. "Dammit! Jack's waking up. He doesn't need to see Audrey like this. Get her out of here!"

"Where do we go?" the technician asked, already moving to the head of Audrey's stretcher.

"Anywhere. Pre-op, the hallway, her room... I don't care, just take her out of here!" Dr. Kane motioned to a nearby nurse. "Get Besson in here. Have him and my teams keep an eye on Jack. I've got to go take care of this." He waited to see that the nurse was following his order, and then he followed Audrey and the technician out of the room.

They stopped in a quiet, empty room next to the Recovery room. "All right." Dr. Kane turned to look at Audrey. Her eyes were wide with panic, and sheer terror was written plainly across her face. A roller coaster of emotions was visible in her eyes, and Dr. Kane winced. Whatever demons she was battling were obviously giving her hell. "Audrey," he said quietly, trying to get her attention. "Everything you've been through must be crashing down on you right now. Is that it?" A miniscule nod. "I know it's scary. But it's going to be okay, I promise. You've got to calm down, though; your body can't take this." He eyed the monitors. "I'm going to give you a little something to help." He motioned to the technician. "Get me a dose of Versed, Ativan, _something."_

The young man hurried to obey. In seconds, he pressed a syringe into Dr. Kane's hand. "Ativan."

"Thanks." Moving quickly, Dr. Kane screwed the hollow-tipped syringe into the port on Audrey's IV line and emptied its contents into the tubing. "There."

He watched the medication begin to work its way through Audrey's system. Her facial muscles contorted visibly as she tried to fight against the drug's effects, but the medication's pull was too strong. Audrey's eyelids began to droop. Dr. Kane watched as her eyelids dipped and closed, and her breathing eased. In seconds, she was dragged into a heavy, drug-induced sleep.

The doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "That was interesting. All right, go ahead and take her back to her room. I'll be along in a minute." He left the room, and went to check on Jack.

_A/N: I'm so glad you're liking this story so much! Thanks a ton for all the great reviews! You know the drill: What you liked/disliked, and your favorite quote (if any)._

_I'm 16 years old, and I've had more medical issues than I can count. My medical file looks like Webster's Dictionary! I've had 13+ surgeries, so I'm WAAAYYY too used to hospitals for my liking. A lot of people seem to like Dr. Carlson in this story. I modeled her after one of my doctors. Dr. Harvey (the anesthesiologist, the guy with blond hair and an alien on his shirt) is also modeled after a real-life doctor; the anesthesiologist that handles my surgeries. He has wild blond hair, and he has a cartoon alien on his shirt. He's a great guy, really funny and random. (Most of the medical staff in this story are modeled after my real doctors and experiences that I've had with them.)_

_ANYWAY, that's enough from me. Keep reviewing, and I'll keep writing!_

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	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Wow, __**Lisa**__ and __**Imcloves24!**_ _Thanks for the wonderful comments! To __**Lisa: **__I've written a ton of other stories that are not related to 24. Most of them are about the Middle East and the war in Iraq. __(I am a current-events fanatic, and I follow the news like crazy. I speak fluent Arabic and I'm learning Spanish. I hope to have a job with the CIA someday.) I've written a story that I am actually considering trying to get published, but I have NO IDEA how to go about doing that. I'll keep working! Thanks for the kind words!_

_In regards to all the medical issues: I was born 4 months early, and I weighed 1 pound 14 ounces. This caused a ton of issues. I have mild cerebral palsy, which is more annoying than anything else. I manage to move pretty well, except for a limp and a clunky leg brace. I also have a condition called hydrocephalus, which basically means that extra fluid builds up in my brain. I have a shunt (a tube) implanted to drain the fluid. Sounds gross, but it's not bad. It doesn't hurt or anything. The only problem is that sometimes it malfunctions, and then they have to do surgery to fix it. So, between the cerebral palsy and the hydrocephalus, I've had about 13 surgeries. Add to that: eye surgery to correct a "lazy eye", back surgery for a condition called scoliosis, and shoulder surgery to correct some damage... That's a lot of surgery!!!! _

_Other than that, I'm a normal person. I horseback ride and I'm attempting to learn to ice skate. My church youth group took a trip to Colorado in June, and I climbed a mountain! That was incredibly grueling and hard, but I did it!!!! When I'm not doing those things (or having surgery), I love to write stories and to read._

_Speaking of which... That's enough from me. My Author's Note is rapidly turning into a mini-novel, so I'm going to shut up now. _

_Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!_

Chapter 13

For both Jack and Audrey, the next four days passed in a blurry haze of pain, semi-consciousness, and heavy, drugged sleep. They were dimly aware of nurses coming in and out of the room to change their bandages and fiddle with the myriad of wires and tubing that they were attached to, and of nurses bathing their faces with cool water as they fed them ice slivers and weak broth, but everything else ran together in a murky fog.

At last, on the fifth day, Audrey woke feeling better than she had in days. The sleepy haze had cleared, and the pain in her leg and arm had settled into a dull ache that was much more tolerable. At last, she was awake and clear-headed.

She glanced across the room, and saw that Jack was also awake. "You look as good as I feel," Audrey remarked.

"I feel a thousand times better," Jack told her, helping himself to a spoonful of ice chips from the plastic pitcher on the bedside table. "You?"

"Much better," Audrey replied, relieved. Jack was looking at her oddly. "What?"

He hesitated. "I don't know. It's just... you seem... _different,_ somehow. I can't put my finger on it. You're..."

"Normal?" Audrey filled in with a smile. "Back to my old self?"

Jack cocked his head, eyeing her. After a few seconds, he nodded. "Yeah. What's going on?"

Audrey laughed, then sobered. "I remember things," she said softly. "In the Recovery room, waking up after surgery, my brain decided to short-circuit. It was awful, Jack. I had all these memories flying at me, and I couldn't stop them. Dr. Kane gave me a megadose of sedatives," she added. "I guess, while I was sleeping, everything fell into place. I remember everything, Jack."

He coughed slightly. "Even me?"

"Of course I recognize you," Audrey told him. "I know who you are. And I remember all the other things, too. I know who I am. I remember my family, my friends, my life... everything. Including China," she added quietly.

Jack grimaced. "That's pleasant."

Audrey nodded. "You can say that again." Jack pulled himself into a sitting position. "What are you doing?" Audrey asked quizzically.

"Coming over to sit with you," Jack told her.

"Are you sure you should be out of bed?" Audrey asked worriedly. "Maybe you should wait for Dr. Kane."

Jack gave her a look. "I don't think taking a few steps across the room will do too much to me." He pushed himself to the edge of the bed until his feet touched the floor, and then, with effort, slowly pulled himself into a standing position. He winced as his left leg touched the floor. "Christ, that hurts," he grunted.

"Graft harvest site?" Audrey asked. Jack nodded grimly. "I know. When I woke up, I honestly thought that my leg was on fire," Audrey recalled. "I can't believe how much that hurt." She glanced down at her upper right leg, and saw that the harvest site was wrapped thickly in adhesive tape and gauze bandages.

Slowly, painfully, Jack hobbled the short distance across the room to Audrey's bed. He winced with every step, and several stifled gasps escaped his lips. At last, after what felt like an eternity to both of them, Jack sank onto Audrey's bed with a sigh of relief. "You made it," Audrey said with a wry smile. Jack nodded wearily. Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself closer to Audrey.

Audrey smiled as Jack extended an arm and drew her close to him. With a slight smile, he leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Welcome back," he whispered. "I missed you."

Audrey leaned her head against Jack's chest and reached up to return the kiss. "I missed you, too." They both fell silent then and simply held one another, just enjoying the closeness and comfort.

A quiet knock at the door startled both of them and snapped them out of their reverie. They both sat up with a start. "Sorry," Dr. Kane said apologetically. "Didn't mean to scare you." He stepped into the room, followed by Dr. Carlson. "Welcome back to the Land of the Living. I take it that you're feeling better."

"Much," Jack and Audrey said in unison.

The doctor smiled. "Good. I just stopped by to check on you. Vitals check." Jack and Audrey both sighed, but obediently opened their mouths and held out their arms. Dr. Kane laughed. "You know the drill by now, huh?" Working quickly, he wrapped blood pressure cuffs around their upper arms and slipped thermometers into their mouths. "There." He jotted the numbers on their charts. "Looks good. Can I get you anything?"

"Food," Jack said seriously. "Please." Audrey nodded in agreement.

Dr. Kane laughed. "You're hungry; that's always a good sign. All right, I'll see what I can find. You haven't eaten in a while, though, so choices are going to be pretty limited and pretty bland for a few days. Broth, Jell-O, dry toast, crackers, that sort of thing. Just until your stomach gets used to having food in it again. Trust me, you don't want to get sick."

"Those choices don't sound very appealing, but we'll take what we can get," Audrey replied.

"Okay, then, I'll see what I can do." Dr. Kane turned to go. "I'll send a nurse in with something for you to eat, and I'll be back to check on you again in a few hours." He left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

Dr. Carlson stepped forward. "Hey, you two. It's good to see you awake and alert. Welcome back." She sat down at the foot of the bed. "How are you feeling? Any pain?" Jack and Audrey both shook their heads. "Good."

"Dr. Carlson..." Audrey said hesitantly.

"Yes?" the doctor asked gently.

Audrey allowed her gaze to travel over the room, finally coming to rest on the two guards stationed outside the door to her room. "Are we safe?" The doctor's brow furrowed. "My father," Audrey clarified. "Have you heard from him? Where is he?"

"Still sick," Dr. Carlson replied. A smile played on her lips. "The stomach flu can be nasty. Apparently, your father felt better than he actually was. He tried to do too much too soon, and he had a setback and made himself sick again."

Audrey shook her head. "That sounds exactly like something he would do." She glanced sideways at Jack. "Sounds like someone I know."

"Me?" Jack protested.

"No, Bill Buchanan," Audrey shot back. "Of course I meant you. Actually, that does sound like something Bill would do," she mused, "but I was talking about you. You know perfectly well what I mean, Jack. I've seen you do it. You insist that you're fine and feel normal, when in reality you have a fever that's through the roof and you can barely lift your head from the pillow."

Dr. Carlson laughed aloud. "She's got a point, Jack." Then her tone changed. "Seriously, you're safe. Audrey, your father shouldn't be coming anywhere near CTU for a few more days at least. The guards know to watch for him, and they'll warn you if he's coming."

The doctor hesitated for a moment. "Audrey... Dr. Kane filled me in on what happened in the Recovery room. Are you — ?"

Audrey interrupted the doctor with a shake of her head. "I know what happened. And I'm fine. I can handle it." She smiled at Dr. Carlson. "I have my memory back. I remember everything. Even China... _especially _China," she added, her smile vanishing for a few moments. "That part of my memory is one that I could have gladly done without, but I'll take it if it means I can have everything else back with it."

Dr. Carlson's eyebrow arched. "Audrey... I'm not so sure. I don't think your memories of your time in China are something that you should have to handle on your own. Frankly, I'm not sure you _can _handle them on your own. Audrey, I've seen big, tough men come back from places like that and be totally unrecognizable. PTSD, panic attacks, nightmares, paranoia, you name it. I don't want you to have to go through that."

"I already have," Audrey said bitterly. "I spent the past few weeks living like a crazy person because of what Cheng Zhi did. I woke up screaming and ripped out my IV because I thought Cheng was after me. I tried to claw a tattoo off of my arm. Last time I checked, that wasn't normal behavior. That was the behavior of someone who's traumatized and suffering from PTSD."

Dr. Carlson nodded. "You're right. Let me rephrase what I said. I don't want you to have to go through that _alone._ We have trained professionals — "

Audrey shook her head vehemently. "No way. I'm not crazy. I am not going to talk to a shrink. They can't help. They wouldn't understand. Only someone who's been there can even begin to understand." She glanced at Jack. "You're the only one who truly understands."

Jack nodded slightly. "I do." He angled his head and met her gaze. "I made a promise to you, Audrey. I promised that I'd be here for you. If you need to talk, I'm listening."

Dr. Carlson hesitated, feeling awkward. She didn't feel like this was something that she was supposed to hear. This was a conversation between Jack and Audrey, and it didn't feel right to be listening. "I... I'll go now. I'll come back later to check up on you." Audrey opened her mouth to speak, but the doctor was already out the door. It closed behind her, and then Jack and Audrey were alone again.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Jack and Audrey spent several blissful hours together, relishing each other's company. They talked quietly, discussing lighthearted topics such as family memories and humorous stories. Soon, though, the discussion took a more serious turn.

With difficulty, they shared stories and discussed their time in Cheng's captivity in China. Both of them wept as they compared stories of torture, pain, and deplorable treatment. Though the memories were painful, they were also helpful in a way. As they talked, both Jack and Audrey felt the weight being lifted from their chest. They had kept the memories to themselves, buried deep in the backs of their minds, for much too long. Sharing them brought much-needed relief and blessed comfort.

Audrey wiped fresh tears from her cheeks. Jack gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and then wrapped her in a quick but comforting hug. With renewed strength, Audrey took a deep breath and continued her story.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Hours later, they finally stopped talking. For now, they had had all the pain that they could take. The rest of the discussion could wait until another time.

Audrey picked up the television remote, and began to search through the channels on the small TV in the corner of the room. Eventually, she found a channel that was showing _Casablanca, _one of her favorite movies. Happily, she settled in to watch.

Jack had no interest in romantic movies. He made a mental note to find _A Few Good Men, Kelly's Heroes, Black Hawk Down, _or _SWAT. _Those were good movies, and they were more his style. For now, while Audrey was engrossed in _Casablanca, _he turned his attention to the stack of file folders on the bedside table. Nadia had eventually realized that arguing with Jack was futile. She gave up the fight and allowed him to join in and help Chloe and everyone with whatever work needed to be done.

Jack picked up one of the folders, booted up the laptop computer that Chloe had loaned him, and got to work.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Jack didn't remember falling asleep, but he must have. He woke with a start. The laptop and the file were still in his lap, and Audrey was still engrossed in her movie. A glance at the screen told Jack that _Casablanca _had ended and _Singing in the Rain _had begun. He shook his head and glanced at the clock. How long had he slept?

A cough came from the doorway. It was the sort of cough that was meant to attract attention. Jack was tempted to ignore the person, but he glanced up, intending to ask them to return later.

The words died on his lips, and Jack froze. Standing in the doorway was none other than Secretary Heller. He wore the darkest scowl that Jack had ever seen, and he looked absolutely furious.

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	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Yes, Heller is back again... we'll see what he has in store... (In Chapter 10, when Dr. Besson is treating Audrey's arm, he asks one of the guards to go get Jack. Joe answers that Heller has stomach flu and will be out of their hair for a while. My mom read that, and her response was this: "Heller has stomach flu! Yay!" LOL! I have such a nice, caring mother.) By the way, __**jen**__, when I read your comment on this last chapter, I laughed so hard that my dad came in to check on me! Thanks for the laugh. As for what's in store for Heller, Jack, and Audrey... you'll soon find out..._

Chapter 14

Jack flinched involuntarily, and the sudden movement startled Audrey. She turned to glance at Jack, eyeing him questioningly. "What...?" Then she spotted her father, and Audrey's eyes widened. "Dad?" she gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"The better question," Heller snapped, "would be, what is _Jack_ doing here?" He glared at Jack with such fury that Audrey half expected to see flames shoot from her father's eyes. She had no idea how he had gotten there or what he was doing there; all she knew was that she didn't want him there. For lack of a better idea, Audrey clamped her fingers around her nurse call button as though it was a lifeline and frantically pressed the button.

Dr. Carlson arrived in moments. "Audrey? Is everything — ?" She stopped in her tracks when she saw Heller. "Mr. Secretary," she managed. "This is a surprise. Are you feeling better?"

"Fine," Heller said shortly. "But I want an explanation! _What_ is Jack doing here?"

Dr. Carlson hesitated. "Visiting your daughter."

"_How did he get here?"_ Heller demanded. _"Who let him in? _Elaine, I left _specific _instructions that _he was not to be allowed anywhere near Audrey!"_ He turned his fury on Jack. "I want you out of here. I'm calling Security."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary," Doug spoke up from behind him, smirking slightly.

"I meant _real_ Security," Heller snapped. "Or have you managed to coerce the rest of the teams as well?"

"Jack didn't do anything," Dr. Carlson insisted. "It was my doing."

"And mine," Doug said quietly.

"And mine," Joe added.

Heller was speechless. His steel-gray eyes were shooting sparks at Dr. Carlson and the guards, and especially at Jack. "I can't believe it." He glared at Doug and Joe. "I'll be putting in a word with Division, and you two _will_ pay for this. You as well, Elaine," he added to Dr. Carlson. She bit her lip slightly, but nodded silently.

"_Enough!"_ Audrey's cry echoed in the room, startling everyone. She glared at her father with an intensity that none of them had ever seen before. "I'd like to speak with my father," she said. Her voice was like steel. "Alone."

"Of course," Dr. Carlson said quietly. She, Doug, Joe, and Jack left the room without a word.

When the door had closed behind them, Audrey turned fiercely on her father. "How dare you!" she cried. _"How dare you!"_

"Me?" Heller asked coolly. "How about you? I posted guards at the door of your room to — "

"To keep Jack away," Audrey finished. "Of course." She met her father's gaze. "Jack told us what you said to him. About him being cursed." Her voice was shaking. "Frankly, I'm amazed. You knew that it would hurt Jack, and that's why you said it. The US SecDef has resorted to painful insults to get his point across to one of America's top federal agents? That's nice, Dad. That's really nice."

"Audie — " Heller tried.

"Don't!" Audrey cut him off. "Don't even try to say anything."

"Audrey," Heller said firmly, interrupting her. "Listen to me. You must try to understand. When I told Jack to stay away, I did it for your protection. Bad things happen to people that he gets close to, and I can't bear the thought of you getting hurt."

"Looks to me like I already have," Audrey shot back, motioning to her bandaged arm and leg, and the scars beneath her clothing. "You haven't seen what's under here, Dad. The scars are pretty gross."

"Exactly my point," Heller told her. "Why did you go to China? To look for Jack. Why did you get captured? Because you were looking for Jack, and they didn't want you to find him. Why do you think they didn't want you to find him? Because he did things that made the Chinese want revenge. He's dangerous, Audie. Can't you see that?"

Audrey didn't answer. "You know, Dad," she spat, "you and I got kidnapped and almost executed because of your job. Jack didn't have anything to do with that. That was _your_ fault. Seems like _you're_ pretty dangerous, too."

Heller's mouth dropped open. "I cannot believe you just said that."

"Believe it," Audrey snarled viciously. "And, remember, the only reason that I went to China on my own is because no one would help me. The government had abandoned Jack; they weren't going to do anything to get him out of that hellhole of a prison that he was in. So I decided to go. I know for a fact that you have plenty of friends in high places that would have been willing to help me search for Jack and bring him home, but you refused to contact them. So I had to go to China on my own. I could have had a team of Delta agents or someone with field training accompanying me and watching my back, but I didn't. I had my passport, a tiny Chinese-English dictionary, and an old, falling-apart rental car. Frankly, I'm not surprised that Cheng managed to find me." She glared at her father. "And I think you're forgetting one important fact."

"What's that?" Heller asked with forced patience.

"You and I owe our lives to Jack," Audrey said. "Or have you forgotten about being shackled to a chair in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, with terrorists aiming assault rifles at your head and preparing to execute you on live television? And, Dad, don't forget that I was there too. Once they had killed you, they were planning to come and put a few bullets in my head as well." Heller flinched slightly, and Audrey continued. "Why didn't the government help us? Oh, that's right. I remember. Keeler had ordered them to destroy the building. There was a surface-to-air missile aimed at our heads, Dad! Remember that?" He said nothing.

Audrey continued. "And don't forget that Jackwas the one who figured out where we were in the first place. He was the one who put the pieces together and gave the details that allowed CTU to capture Sherek. Their interrogation methods weren't worth crap, so Jack put a bullet in Sherek's knee. That got him talking fast. He gave up the info that we were the targets. By then, it was too late to stop the kidnapping, but it wasn't too late for a rescue. Since nobody else seemed to care about us, Jack took matters into his own hands. Remember? Ignoring the fact that the building was about to be blown up by a missile, Jack went in. _Alone._ He took out the guards, killed the terrorist goons that were about to shoot you in the head on live TV, and shot the guy that was using me as a human shield. Does any of that ring a bell, Dad? Because it should. If it wasn't for Jack, you and I would both be dead," she snapped. "You owe him a huge thank-you, or even a medal or something. But did he get one? Nope. Not even close. As a reward for all that he's done for this country, as a thank-you for all the times that he's saved our asses, he was 'killed', forced to fake his death and go into hiding, and then snatched up and thrown into a frozen hellhole of a prison in the snowy mountains of northern China! Maybe it's just me, but I think something is _seriously_ wrong with that picture!"

Audrey took a deep breath to control her rapidly mounting rage, and continued on. "Doyle told me about what happened at the warehouse. Jack rigged it with about a hundred pounds of C-4. Once he was sure that I was safe, he was going to blow up the building. It would have killed everyone there, _including Jack._ He was willing to blow himself up and kill himself in order to save me. I'd say that that's pretty damn brave. So, what exactly is your problem with someone who shows that much selfless love?" She met her father's gaze with a steady stare of her own, refusing to break eye contact.

It was Heller who finally did. He pulled away and lowered his gaze, glancing away from Audrey's unflinching stare. "Audie... please, don't do this."

Audrey shook her head. "Nice try, but we're long past the point where your pleas and guilt trips will work. I am not going to forget about Jack and what's happened. I want to be with him. It's _my choice_ to be with him. What part of that don't you understand?"

"He's bad luck, Audrey. He's evil," Heller said desperately. "Can't you see that?"

Audrey shook her head. "Jack is evil? Are you sure it wasn't _your_ reflection you were looking at in the mirror when you decided that?" Heller's mouth dropped open. "You say that you don't want me to be hurt any more," Audrey scoffed, "and yet you told Jack that he was cursed; you hurt him, and you tried to lie to me. What did you honestly think I was going to do? Hug you and say thank you?"

"Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind," Heller said coolly.

"Yeah," Audrey scoffed, laughing bitterly. "Evidently!" She glared at her father. "Here's the deal. You're going to stop this nonsense with Jack, and you're going to walk away."

"Or what?" Heller demanded.

"Or you won't ever see me again," Audrey said coldly. "Let me make this clear. Whenever Dr. Carlson releases me, I will not be coming home with you." She saw a flicker of something in her father's eyes. "I can't Dad. I can't be near you. I'll find somewhere else to stay. You'll be in DC, so I'll either go back to my apartment here or stay with one of my friends. Or, most likely, I will stay with Jack."

"Audrey," Heller sighed, shaking his head. "Stop this. You're not thinking rationally." He saw the expression on her face, and his tone softened. "It's all right, sweetheart. It's the medications. They're affecting your ability to think. It's not your fault. Maybe I should have Dr. Carlson give you something to help you sleep. Maybe it'll help clear your mind."

"Stop it," Audrey snapped. "Just _shut up._ Don't try to patronize me, Dad. For your information, I'm not taking any medications. My mind is perfectly clear. My thinking ability is just fine, thank you very much." She paused. "Dad, I'm not sure if Dr. Carlson told you this, but _I remember. _I remember everything." Heller's eyebrow arched. Audrey nodded. "That's right. I remember it all. Who I am, my life, you... and China, and Jack. So don't try to change things or twist them around, because it won't work. Like I said, my mind is perfectly clear. I can think for myself, and I know what I remember. There's no point in you trying to lie to me." She pushed her bedcovers back and moved to the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Heller questioned, watching her.

"Getting up," Audrey replied. "Getting out of bed and walking out of this room. I need to talk to Dr. Carlson." She winced slightly as her right leg touched the floor. The graft harvest site was still slightly sore, but the pain was manageable now. Audrey ignored the brief twinge of pain that shot through her leg as she moved to the edge of the bed and swung her legs over the side.

"Audrey." Heller hurried to her side. "Should you be getting up? Is it okay for you to walk on that leg?"

"Yes," Audrey snapped. "It's fine. And I don't need your help," she added, firmly pushing her father's hand away. "I can manage by myself." She slid forward until her feet touched the floor, and then carefully pulled herself into a standing position. "See?" With a toss of her head, she walked calmly across the room and out the door, closing it behind her.

Dr. Carlson, Jack, and the guards were standing farther down the hallway, talking in low tones. They all glanced up in surprise as Audrey approached them. "Audrey!" Dr. Carlson exclaimed, hurrying to her. "What are you doing out of bed? Is everything all right?"

"I'm attempting to reason with my father," Audrey replied. "He's ready to bite my head off, and he accused me of being too drugged to think clearly. Other than that, everything's just great," she said dryly. "I came out here to ask you for a favor."

"Of course. What?" the doctor asked.

"Can you please call Security and get my father out of my room?" Audrey asked seriously. "No offense, Doug and Joe, but he's not exactly going to listen if you try to do it. Do you think you could call someone else?"

They nodded. "No problem," Doug assured her. "I don't blame you. If I was you, I'd want him out of my room too." Audrey laughed bitterly. Doug reached for his radio and held a brief conversation with someone on the other end. In minutes, two uniformed security guards arrived.

Audrey held open the door to her room and ushered the men inside. "Please escort my father out of here."

Heller's mouth dropped open, and he stared at his daughter in shock. "Audrey! What...?"

Audrey stood back. "I'm through talking, Dad. I want you out of my room. I asked these men to get you out of here."

Heller fell silent as he stared at his daughter. At last, he nodded. "If that's the way you want to be." The guards stepped towards him, but Heller shook his head. "There's no need, gentlemen. I'll go willingly. My daughter has made her feelings clear." They refrained from touching him, but followed closely as he walked towards the door.

"I only have one more thing to say to you, Dad," Audrey told him. Heller waited patiently. "It's something you said. After Jack rescued us from Marwan, when we got back to CTU, Paul was waiting for me. He met Jack, and practically threatened him. Then he went and complained to you, calling my relationship with Jack 'unprofessional.' Your answer was this, 'Audrey's a big girl. She can do what she wants.' " Audrey met her father's eyes with a steady, unflinching gaze of her own. "Remember that? Because I do. I love you, I really do, but you've gone too far now. So I am going to do what I want, Dad. And what I want is to be with Jack. I _will_ be with him. And you can't stop me." She nodded to the guards. "You can go." Audrey watched as they escorted her father out of the room. The door closed behind them, and then there was only silence.

Audrey realized for the first time that she was trembling violently. She exhaled hard and ran a shaky hand over her face. Then, taking a deep breath, she stepped into the hallway and went to talk with Dr. Carlson, Jack, Doug, and Joe.

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	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Glad you liked this last chapter! The Audrey-Heller smackdown was quite fun to write. ____ I actually liked Heller when we first met him in S4. Calm, cool, collected, and powerful. Interesting new guy. Then, the little that we saw of him in S5 made me kind of mad. Punched Jack and left him tied to a pole with Audrey. And S6...oh, don't get me started. I can see where he's coming from; I understand that he's mad about his daughter. I respect that. But that DOES NOT mean that he had the right to say what he did to Jack. That was just pure cruel spitefulness! I would have loved to reach into the TV and smack him. Since I couldn't, I let Audrey do it for me in this story._

_Enjoy this latest chapter! _

Chapter 15

The next few days fell into a predictable pattern. (Audrey had apologized profusely to Dr. Carlson, Doug, and Joe for her father's actions. They, and Jack as well, accepted the apology, but Audrey sensed that they were still slightly hurt.)

Heller kept his distance from Audrey, barricading himself in an office cubicle with a heap of work. Audrey kept her distance as well, spending most of her time assisting CTU with the hunt for Cheng Zhi.

"Anything?" Jack asked after the second week with no results. "Anything at all?"

Nadia shook her head. "Nothing. Since he escaped, it's like he disappeared into thin air. We haven't intercepted any phone calls or received any word of movement. There's been absolutely nothing. Either Cheng really isn't doing anything, or he's just very good at making it appear that way." She ran a hand through her hair. "We've got to find him soon."

"You're telling me," Jack muttered.

"Not just so you can get revenge," Nadia scolded gently. "We want justice for you, but the main priority is to get the circuit board from Cheng. Suvarov is getting more and more impatient as time goes by. With that circuit board in his possession, Cheng can wreak havoc if he chooses to. I get the feeling that he's just biding his time and waiting for something. The question is, what? We've got to find him and stop him before he does something disastrous." She glanced at Audrey, Chloe, and Morris. "Let me know as soon as anything comes up. _Anything_, no matter how small." They nodded in understanding. Nadia sighed wearily. With a shake of her head, she strode away, leaving them to their work.

Everyone fell silent again. The clicking of computer keys, shuffling of papers, and occasional ringing of phones were the only things that kept the bullpen from being completely still and silent.

Suddenly, Audrey leaped to her feet. "I've got something. This call was just intercepted a few minutes ago, and from what I can tell, one of the speakers is definitely Cheng Zhi. You've got to hear this." She passed the audio file on to Chloe, who skillfully keyed a set of commands into the computer. In moments, the recording began to play, loud enough for everyone on the floor to hear.

"_Yes?"_ That was a voice that they didn't recognize.

"_Is it done?" _That was definitely Cheng.

"_Almost. We're making final preparations now. We'll be ready within the hour, and the operation will take place sometime tonight. I would prefer to wait until after sundown."_

"_Fine,"_ Cheng grunted. _"Just hurry. Finish the job as soon as possible. I don't want to wait long to put the next step in motion. We don't have much time."_

"_Understood. I'll contact you when it's done, and someone will bring the item to you."_

"_Good."_

"That's it?" Nadia asked. Chloe nodded.

"That doesn't give us much," Jack commented. "Chloe, Morris, I want you to run a cross-check on that second voice and see if you can get an ID. Maybe that will give us a clue as to what's going on. I don't like the sound of this."

"Agreed," Nadia spoke up. "Hurry up. We need to figure out what's going on."

Grimly, they got to work. The clock was ticking, and time was running out. The question was: time for _what?_

_A/N: Dun-dun-DUNNN... The plot thickens... TBC!_

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	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Pasadena, California**

While the CTU team was racing against the clock in Los Angeles, things were peaceful in Pasadena.

Kim Bauer glanced across the small kitchen table in her apartment, and shared a smile with Barry Landes. "So, do you take back what you said earlier about my cooking?"

He chuckled. "Yes. I'm surprised. You _can _cook. I thought your cooking ability was limited to making microwave popcorn, instant pudding, and ramen noodles."

Kim shook her head as she ate another forkful of lasagna. "This is the exception. My mom gave me this recipe and taught me how to make it a long time ago. Other than this, I'm afraid you're going to have to either fend for yourself or be stuck with ramen noodles, popcorn, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and deli meat."

"That's why they invented take-out," Barry teased.

Angela giggled. "I think even _you're_ a better cook than I am," Kim said, smiling at the little girl. (She and Chase had come to an agreement that Angela would be allowed to spend one weekend a month with her and Barry.) "Are you finished, or do you want seconds?"

Angela shook her head. "I'm finished."

Kim smiled. "Rumor has it that there's ice cream in the freezer. Chocolate ice cream for dessert; how does that sound?"

Angela clapped her hands. "Yippee!"

Barry laughed. "I'll take care of the dishes while you serve the ice cream, Kim."

Kim nodded. "Sure. You want to help me scoop the ice cream, Angela?" The little girl scrambled down off of her chair and followed Kim into the kitchen. Kim placed the ice-cream scoop in the little girl's hand, and wrapped her hand over Angela's small one to hold it steady. Together, they scooped ice cream into three bowls and resumed their seats at the kitchen table.

After her ice-cream snack, Angela was sent off to bed for the night. Kim watched her as she brushed her teeth, changed into her pink Cinderella nightgown, and climbed beneath the covers of the bed in the guest room. "Will you read me a story?" the little girl asked. "I'm not sleepy yet. Please?"

Kim relented. "All right. But just one. Which one?"

"One of the _Corduroy_ bear books," Angela requested. Kim searched until she located _Corduroy Bear Wants A Pocket,_ sat down on the edge of Angela's bed, and began to read. Despite her insistence that she wasn't sleepy, Angela's eyes began to droop after only a few pages. By the time Kim reached the last page of the book, the little girl was sleeping soundly. Kim smiled to herself as she replaced the book on the shelf, tucked the covers tighter around Angela's small form, and left the room.

**-o-o-o-o-**

_BANG!_ The bedroom door flew open and slammed against the wall with enough force to send the nearby trashcan flying. Kim sat up with a start as Angela hurtled across the room and dove into the bed next to her. "What's the matter, sweetie?" she asked softly.

Angela was trembling as she burrowed deeper under the bedcovers. "I-I heard a noise, and I saw scary shadows! It's a monster!" she wailed. "There are monsters in here!" She burst into tears.

"Okay...okay...it's all right." Kim gathered the little girl into her arms. Angela immediately clamped her arms around Kim's neck, and her legs around Kim's waist. Clearly, she had no intention of letting go. She buried her head in the shoulder of Kim's pajama shirt, sobbing. "Easy," Kim soothed, gently rubbing Angela's back in soothing circles. "It's okay. There are no monsters in here, I promise."

"Are too!" Angela cried. "I saw one!"

"Well, then, why don't you show me where you saw it? I'll scare it away for you, okay?" Kim asked gently. Angela sniffled and nodded. Still clinging tightly to Kim, she allowed herself to be carried down the dimly lit hallway.

"I-I think it was by the couch," she hiccupped. "Or maybe in the kitchen."

"Okay, let me go take a look." Gently, Kim disentangled Angela's arms and legs from around her neck and waist, and placed the child on her feet on the floor.

"Be careful!" Angela cried. "Don't let it get you!"

Kim smiled slightly. "I won't let it get me. Or you. I promise. While I go look for it, why don't you go into the bathroom? Get a drink and wipe off your face. I'll meet you in the kitchen, and we can have milk and a cookie or two. Okay?" Angela nodded, and disappeared into the bathroom. Kim continued moving down the hallway. _It's probably just Barry, getting a nighttime snack,_ she thought, remembering that his side of the bed had been empty, _but I'll make Angela happy and check anyway._

She flicked on the kitchen light. "Angela?" she called out. "It's okay. I didn't see any monsters. You can — " She stopped in mid-sentence and let out a horrified scream.

Barry lay in the middle of the kitchen floor, in a puddle of blood. There was a neat, round bullet hole in the middle of his forehead.

Kim's legs gave out. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she crumpled to the floor next to Barry's lifeless form. Frantically, she pressed her fingers against his wrist and felt for a pulse. There was none. Choking on her sobs, Kim scrambled to her feet and lunged for the cordless phone. Her hands were shaking so badly that she had to try three times before she finally managed to punch in the numbers: _9-1-1._

"911 Emergency Services; what's your emergency?" The female voice on the other end of the phone was calm, cool, and unhurried.

"It's my boyfriend," Kim gasped. "He's dead; he's been shot! I think there's someone in my house! Please,"—she choked on a sob—,"please hurry!"

"All right." The woman's voice held an underlying note of something that Kim couldn't make out. It sounded like a mixture of surprise and horror. "All right, we'll send someone. Can you tell me your address?" Kim froze in panic. _What was their address?_ At last, she managed to think clearly enough to recall the information and relay it to the operator. "Okay. The police are on their way. What's your name, ma'am?"

"Kim," Kim gasped. "Kim Bauer."

"All right, Kim. Are you on a cordless phone?"

"I-I...yes. Yes," Kim stammered.

"Good. I need you to get out of the house. If there are children with you, get them out as well. Move as quickly as you can. Stay on the line," the woman added. "Don't hang up until the officers get there. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Hurry, then. Get outside, and find somewhere to go until the police officers arrive."

"O-okay. Angela!" Kim called, hurrying down the hallway. "Where are you, sweetheart?" The last thing she wanted was for the child to see Barry. Moving quickly, she rushed down the hallway to the bathroom. "Angela, come here, honey."

"What is it?" Angela's face was streaked with tears. "I heard you scream. Did the monster get you?"

"No, honey," Kim said quietly. She cradled the phone and spoke to the 911 operator. "I won't hang up, but can I put the phone down?"

"Yes," the woman told her, "but put it somewhere where you can reach it."

Kim obeyed, and clipped the phone to the waistband of her pajama pants. "There." She turned her attention back to Angela. "No, honey, the monster didn't get me. I couldn't find it. But there's someone bad in the house. We have to go outside for a little while, okay?"

Angela trembled. "Is it the monster?"

"I don't know," Kim told her gently. "But the police will come soon, and they'll find out what it is. If it is a monster, they'll catch it. They won't let it hurt us." She gathered the little girl into her arms. "Everything's going to be fine. I won't let anything happen to you. You're safe."

Angela's small body was shaking with sobs as Kim scooped her up and headed for the front door. "I w-want...my d-daddy," she hiccupped. "I'm scared."

"I know, sweetie. But you're going to be okay. I'll keep you safe," Kim told her softly. "We need to be quiet now, though, okay? We have to be very quiet. Can you do that?" Angela nodded, wide-eyed, as she valiantly tried to suppress her sobs. "Good girl," Kim whispered. "Everything's going to be okay." She took a tighter grip on Angela and continued moving towards the door, walking on tiptoe as best she could so as not to make a sound.

Suddenly, as they moved through the living room, a form emerged from the shadows. Angela's eyes widened, and she let out a horrified scream. _"It's the monster!"_

Before Kim could respond, a hand grabbed her arm and spun her around. She opened her mouth to scream, but another hand snaked around her neck and clamped a bitter-smelling rag over her mouth and nose. She felt the sharp, brief prick of a needle in her upper arm, and the room began to spin almost instantly.

Angela was still screaming. Kim tried to comfort her, but she couldn't make her vocal chords work. She was dimly aware of two sets of arms prying Angela away from her as the child cried and screamed, and then everything went black as she lost consciousness.

**-o-o-o-o-**

The black cell phone sitting on the seat next to him rang shrilly, and Cheng Zhi snatched it up. "Yes?"

"_It's done,"_ the voice on the other end said in Mandarin Chinese. _"We have the package, and we're on our way to you. We'll be there within the hour."_

"Good," Cheng said curtly in English. With that, he hung up the phone and sat back to wait.

_A/N: Uh-oh... Just to be clear: I don't mind Kim. I don't love her, but I don't hate her, either. I can tolerate her. And, besides, I figured that she's pretty much the only family member that Jack would WANT to rescue, LOL! We shall see what happens..._

_Also, __**Lisa,**__I have no idea why there are numbers at the end of the chapters. I didn't put them there. It's just something funky that my computer does._

_Please R & R!!_

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	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Kim's head was pounding painfully, and she groaned slightly as she slowly regained consciousness. Her body felt like a dead weight, and lifting her head took tremendous effort. It felt like there was a two-hundred-pound weight around her neck that was holding her head down, but at last she managed to lift her head a few inches. Her vision was blurred, and for a few seconds she saw two of everything. She blinked hesitantly, and the double vision and blurriness slowly began to subside.

It took several moments, but at last she could see somewhat clearly. Kim lifted her head and surveyed her surroundings. Suddenly, she recoiled. A Chinese man was standing over her, and his face was just inches from hers. "Ah, Miss Bauer," he said. "You are awake. Good."

Kim licked her lips. "How do you know my name? Who... who are you? Where am I?" She clutched at the arms of her chair. "Angela? Oh, God, where's Angela? What did you do to her?"

"Nothing," the man said calmly. "We did not harm her. We left her there for the authorities to find. You called them, so they will come. They will find her, and she will be fine."

"Why am I here?" Kim asked weakly. "What do you want with me? I-I don't even know who you are. I've never seen you before in my life."

"It is not you that we want," the man told her. "It's your father. Jack Bauer." He fixed her with an intense gaze. "Where is your father?"

Kim frowned. "What do you want with him?"

"Answer the question, Miss Bauer. Where is he?"

Kim shook her head. "I don't know."

The man scoffed. "Of course you do. _Where is he?"_

Kim shook her head again, harder this time. "Honestly, I don't know. I have no idea. I haven't spoken to him in over two years. I have no idea where he is."

The man turned towards the door and called out something in Chinese. Two large, muscular, well-built men stepped through the door. Kim realized that they were trying to intimidate her. _Well, it's working,_ she thought. _These guys are huge. They could kill me in about two seconds if they wanted to. Oh God, maybe they do!_ She trembled at the thought. "Please... please, don't hurt me. I-I don't want to die."

The first man laughed scornfully. "We are not going to kill you, Miss Bauer. We only wish to ask you some things. If you tell us what we want to know, and if your father gives us what it is that we want from him, then no harm will come to you."

Kim glanced pleadingly at him. "I told you, I don't know where my father is."

The two men stepped forward and came to stand on either side of her. "Perhaps these men can persuade you to remember where your father is," the first man said coolly.

Kim shook her head vehemently as the two men jerked her to her feet. "Ow! I'm telling you the truth! I swear, I don't know where he is! If I knew, I'd tell you!" She started to cry as they dragged her towards the door. "Please, don't do this! Don't hurt me. I honestly don't know!" No one answered. Kim choked on a frightened sob as she was dragged across the room and out the door.

_Oh, God! Help!_

**-o-o-o-o-**

Back at CTU, the agents were still working on trying to track down Cheng Zhi. Chloe had gotten a positive ID on the voice of the second caller on the recording. "He's a thirty-two-year-old Chinese man named Feng Zhao," Chloe announced. "He has duel citizenship, and holds both an American and a Chinese passport. He divides his time between the US and China, and is an expert at blending in here. The aliases that he uses are Mark Li and Daniel Shen. All evidence suggests that he definitely works for and with Cheng Zhi."

"Well, that's good to know," Audrey remarked. "At least we know who he is."

"Yeah; now we just need to figure out what he's planning," Jack replied. "What's the 'item' that he's bringing to Cheng Zhi? What does Cheng have up his sleeve?"

"Jack?" He turned to see Nadia rushing across the floor with a sheaf of papers in her hand.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

Nadia looked distressed. "This is a report from LAPD. They flagged it and sent it to me. Two hours ago, they received a call from a neighborhood in Ventura, from one of Chase Edmunds's neighbors. The caller said that they noticed something suspicious in his house."

"What kind of 'something'?" Jack demanded. Nadia had his full attention now.

"Supposedly, she saw a black car hidden in the shadows by the house. A little while later, she saw people moving inside the house, and heard what sounded like gunshots." Jack drew in a sharp breath. "Ventura PD responded to the call. There was no answer to their knocks, so they entered the house. Jack... when they found Chase, he... he was dead. He'd been shot execution-style."

Jack's legs wobbled. Audrey lunged across the room and shoved a chair behind him just in time. Jack's legs buckled, and he fell into the chair. "My God," he said hoarsely. "That's... that's... Do they have any leads?"

Nadia shook her head. "No. None yet. Forensics teams are working on it, though. But, Jack... there's more."

He met her gaze. "Not Kim. Please, tell me it's not Kim." His voice cracked as he looked helplessly at Nadia. "Please."

Nadia ducked her head. "I'm sorry."

"_No!"_ Jack's shout made everyone jump. "God, no!" He balled his hand into a fist and slammed it down on the desk. The desk rattled, and several files crashed to the floor, scattering their contents. No one moved. Jack lifted his head and looked at Nadia. "What happened? Please, don't tell me she's dead too. Not my daughter."

"No, she's not dead," Nadia assured him. "At least... we don't think so. No one knows." Jack's head jerked up. "She's gone, Jack," Nadia said quietly. "She placed a call to Pasadena PD about an hour ago, claiming that her boyfriend was dead and there was someone in her house. The dispatcher says that the last minutes of the call are filled with sounds. Glass breaking, footsteps, yelling, a child crying, and someone screaming. When Pasadena PD responded to the call, they found Kim's boyfriend..."

"Barry," Jack filled in. "Barry Landes."

"Yes. Barry." Nadia continued. "...They found Barry in the kitchen on the floor. Dead. He'd been shot in the head at close range. They searched the house, but Kim was nowhere in sight. All that they found was a discarded rag soaked in ether and chloroform. As far as we can tell, she was rendered unconscious from the chloroform and ether, and taken from the house. The only person there was a child. A little girl, about four or five years old."

"Oh, God," Jack gasped. "Angela. Chase's daughter," he explained. "Chase and Kim split up a few years ago, and Chase took Angela. He and Kim worked out some sort of agreement that she would get to see Angela one weekend a month. This was that weekend. Oh, Jesus." He glanced at Nadia. "Where is she? Is she all right?"

Nadia nodded. "As far as the officers could tell, she wasn't harmed physically. She was just badly shaken up. Terrified, actually."

"Understandably," Jack said bitterly. "Strangers storm the house, shoot and kill Barry, and take Kim away. Angela's got to be absolutely terrified."

"The officers said that she was hysterical when they got there. She asked for Kim. They told her that Kim had gone away for a little while," Nadia added. "Then she asked repeatedly for her daddy. When they told her that she couldn't see her daddy just then, she started asking for you, Jack." Nadia glanced at him. "They couldn't think of any other place to bring her, so they're bringing her here to CTU for a while."

Jack nodded. "All right. I'll take care of her," he said quietly. He glanced up at Nadia, and the pain and anguish that was written plainly across his face took Nadia's breath away. She'd never seen true, raw pain on anyone's face, but she saw it on Jack's now. "Where's Kim? Do they have any leads at all on where she might be? Who has her? _Anything?"_ he asked desperately.

Nadia shook her head. "No. I'm sorry, Jack. So far, there's nothing." Jack's shoulders slumped. To everyone watching, he seemed to age twenty years in that split second. His face was etched with pain and grief. Beyond caring what anyone thought, Jack bowed his head and sobbed.

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	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Hey, all! I am SO SORRY that it took so long to get this chapter up!!!!!!! My computer randomly erased all of my Word files, which means that I'm going to have to re-type all of the rest of the chapters for this story. (It had something like 30 chapters. It was completely finished, so all I had to do was upload each one here. Now I have to write them again, so I can't say how long of an interval there will be between updates. My life is kind of hectic right now; I've got a ton of papers and crap due at school. I'll work on another chapter as soon as I can. Sorry for the wait!_

Chapter 18

Nadia glanced up to see two CTU security guards crossing the bullpen, followed by two uniformed police officers. One of the officers was carrying a small girl in his arms. The child's face was streaked and stained with tears, but she was sleeping soundly. Nadia got to her feet and hurried to meet them.

One of the officers, a well-built man with dark hair, nodded to her. "I'm Officer Ben Weiss, Pasadena PD." He motioned to the second officer, who still held the sleeping child. "This is Lieutenant John McLaughlin, and that is Angela Edmunds." He glanced sympathetically at the child. "She cried hysterically for most of the trip over here; finally cried herself to sleep a few minutes ago."

Nadia ran her thumb over the little girl's hand. "I'd like to take her to the clinic and let one of our doctors check her over." She crossed the bullpen and went to talk to Audrey Raines. "Have you seen Jack? I'd like to hand Angela to him, so she'll see a familiar face."

Audrey shook her head. "The last that I saw of him, he was sitting in the break room, just staring into space. Try looking for him there. If he's not there, try the gym or the firing range. Maybe he's working with a punching bag, or taking his anger out on a shooting target. On second thought," she added as an afterthought, "maybe I should be the one to go look for him. No offense, but he's not in the mood to see many other people right now."

"None taken," Nadia assured her. "Of course, go ahead. Tell Jack to meet us in Medical." Audrey nodded, and hurried away to locate Jack. Nadia led the officers towards the medical bay to wait for a doctor.

Audrey's prediction had been right. As she hurried down the corridor leading to the gym and the firing range, the sound of heavy gunfire reached her ears. She opened the door to the firing range and stepped into the room.

The sharp, staccato bark of heavy, rapid gunfire echoed off the concrete walls. The noise level was deafening, and Audrey briefly considered leaving and finding a pair of earplugs. She decided against it, and continued watching Jack.

He had hung a paper target printed with a human silhouette, and was firing furiously at it. As Audrey watched, a firestorm of bullets poured from Jack's gun and found their mark on the target.

"Jack?" Audrey shouted over the noise. "You can stop now. I think you got him." He gave no indication of hearing her. Carefully, Audrey approached, trying desperately not to startle him. Startling anyone who had a gun in their hand was dangerous, but it was especially true with Jack. With the mental state that he was in, there was no telling how he would react.

Jack turned slightly and spotted Audrey out of the corner of his eye. Reacting instinctively, he immediately pivoted towards her with his gun raised. "Easy," Audrey said quickly. "It's me." Jack relaxed, and Audrey came to stand behind him. "Hey," she said softly, sliding her arms around his waist and resting her head against his back. "Put the gun down, please." Slowly, Jack unloaded the 9mm SigSauer pistol and set it on the table.

Audrey motioned to the target that Jack had been shooting. "I think you got him," she said wryly. Indeed he had. Jack had shot the target so many times that it no longer had anything approaching a head, and its upper chest was one giant hole. Audrey reached for the target, unclipped it, and took it down. Jack took it from her and flung it savagely into the nearest trashcan. "Easy, tiger," Audrey remarked. She moved to face him. "Would you like me to have Chloe print up a bunch of pictures of Cheng Zhi?" she asked lightly. "I could glue them to these targets for you."

Jack made a sound that was somewhere between a heavy sigh and a harsh laugh. "Now _that_ would be something worth shooting! But no. I already see his face in my head."

"Really, I couldn't tell," Audrey remarked sarcastically. She helped Jack pack the pistol and ammunition magazines into the case lying on the table. "Nadia sent me to find you. The Pasadena officers are here with Angela. They're in Medical."

Jack stiffened. "Is she hurt? I swear, if Cheng's men laid a hand on her, I'll — "

"She's fine, Jack," Audrey assured him. "They didn't do anything to her. She isn't hurt, just very scared. She cried herself to sleep on the way here. The officers want to hand her to you so she'll see a familiar face and won't be completely terrified when she wakes up."

Jack relaxed visibly. "Good."

Audrey gently propelled him towards the door. "Let's go find Angela."

**-o-o-o-o-**

They found the two Pasadena police officers waiting in a cubicle in the Medical bay. Lieutenant McLaughlin was seated in a plastic chair, still with Angela in his arms. He glanced up as Jack and Audrey entered the room. "You must be Jack." Jack nodded. "I'm Lieutenant John McLaughlin, and that's Officer Ben Weiss," Lieutenant McLaughlin told him.

Jack nodded curtly. "Nice to meet you." He motioned to Angela. "May I?"

"Of course; here." As gently as possible, Lieutenant McLaughlin transferred the still-sleeping Angela into Jack's arms. The child stirred slightly as Jack took her into his arms. Her eyes fluttered open, and she sleepily took in her surroundings. Her small body went rigid as she spotted the people gathered in the small room, and she clutched at Jack's arm.

"Easy, sweetheart," Jack soothed. "You're safe." Angela craned her neck to look up at him, blinking sleepily. "Hi, honey," Jack whispered, hugging her tightly. "Good to see you."

Angela glanced at him, and tears swam in her eyes. "I saw monsters," she cried. "There are monster in Kim's house! They took her away, and they hurt her friend, too."

Jack swallowed hard, fighting tears. "I know, baby. I know. But you're safe now. We won't let any monsters hurt you." He tried to smile for her benefit. "Have you ever heard of the Ghostbusters?" Angela nodded, puzzled. Her brow furrowed quizzically. "Well, guess what?" Jack continued. "We're sort of like the Ghostbusters. We're monster hunters." Audrey ducked her head to hide a smile.

Angela's eyes widened. _"Really?"_

Jack nodded seriously. "Yep. I have lots of friends that are special monster hunters. We won't let any monsters hurt you. And we'll find the ones that took Kim. I promise."

"What will you do with them when you find them?" Angela demanded. "You should put them on time-out."

Jack nodded. "We will." He motioned in the direction of the holding cells and the interrogation rooms. "We have special monster time-out rooms. We'll put them in there until they're ready to apologize and behave nicely." Audrey and the officers covered their mouths and tried not to laugh.

Angela seemed satisfied. "Good." She glanced around the small white room. "Where are we?"

"This is the Medical bay," Jack explained. "It's like a doctor's office."

Angela frowned. "I don't like doctors. And I'm not sick. What are we doing in here?"

"We need to make sure you're not hurt," Officer McLaughlin told her. He noticed her wide eyes. "It's all right, sweetheart. No one's going to hurt you. We just want to check you out and make sure you're okay."

At that moment, the door swung open, and Dr. Carlson breezed into the room. "Hi, gang."

"Long time no see," Audrey quipped.

The doctor chuckled as she knelt down to Angela's level. "Hi, there. You must be Angela."

"How did you know my name?" Angela asked suspiciously.

"Magic," Dr. Carlson told her. "No, actually, Jack told me your name." She took Angela's small hand in hers. "My name is Dr. Carlson. I need to get a look at you. Can you climb up on the table for me?" Angela planted her thumb firmly in her mouth and leaned back against Jack's chest. "All right, that's fine," Dr. Carlson said reassuringly. "You can stay put. I think Jack's lap is probably more comfortable, anyway." Angela nodded, and the doctor smiled. "Okay, then."

"Do I have to get a shot?" Angela asked nervously. "I don't like shots. They're scary."

Dr. Carlson shook her head. "Nope. No shots, I promise." Angela breathed a sigh of relief, making everyone chuckle. Dr. Carlson turned her attention to examining the child. "All right, let's see what we've got here." She motioned to Angela's right ear. "Do you think I'll find any monkeys in there?" Angela burst into giggles and shook her head vehemently. Dr. Carlson laughed. "You don't think so, huh? Well, how about I take a look anyway?" Quickly, she inspected Angela's ears. "Nope, no monkeys in there. How about your eyes? Can I get a look at those?" She produced a penlight from the pocket of her lab coat and shone it into Angela's eyes. "You have very pretty blue eyes."

"Thank you," Angela said shyly.

Dr. Carlson smiled. "You're welcome."

The examination continued. Dr. Carlson kept her tone light and upbeat, asking teasing questions that sent Angela into fits of giggles. Her laughter lifted a bit of Jack's grief, and he found himself smiling as he listened to the childish laughter echoing in the room.

At last, the doctor turned to Jack. "I didn't find evidence of any injuries. Other than being a bit shaken up and scared, I think she's perfectly fine. The best thing for her right now would be some sleep."

Jack relaxed visibly. "Okay. Thanks."

Dr. Carlson glanced at him sympathetically. "You're welcome." She stroked a wayward strand of Angela's silky blond hair. "You were a very good patient, Angela. I've got a little reward for you." She reached into the pocket of her lab coat and withdrew a tiny fist-sized teddy bear and a lollipop. "But you might want to be careful, because these seem to have a nasty habit of..." She closed her hand over the items and rotated her wrist. "...disappearing," she finished, opening her hand. The bear and candy were gone.

Angela's eyes widened. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know." Dr. Carlson frowned. "Hey, what's that?" She felt behind Angela's head, and produced something from behind her long blond hair. "Look here." It was the tiny bear.

Angela's mouth dropped open. "How did you do that?"

Dr. Carlson winked. "It's magic." She cocked her head. "Can you hear me?"

Angela frowned, puzzled. "Yes."

The doctor's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Are you sure? Because I think you have something in your ear."

"Maybe you have monkeys in your ears after all," Audrey remarked. Angela giggled.

Dr. Carlson felt behind Angela's right ear. "Look what I found. It's kind of hard to hear when you have candy in your ear, don't you think?" She handed Angela the lollipop. "There you go."

Angela's eyes widened. _"How did you do that?!"_

Dr. Carlson's eyes twinkled. "I told you, it's magic," she said with a wink. "It's a secret."

Grudgingly, Angela accepted that answer. Her gaze drifted around the room, finally coming to rest on Audrey. "This place is busy," she commented. "It's the middle of the night. The sun is sleeping, so why are you all awake?"

"Monster hunting is a twenty-four-hour job," Audrey told her with a smile. "Sometimes we work all night."

Angela nodded. "Oh."

"It's okay for monster-hunters to stay awake all night," Dr. Carlson spoke up, "but it's not okay for little girls. You need to go get some sleep."

Angela rested her head on Jack's shoulder. "I'm sleepy," she mumbled, yawning widely.

Nadia motioned to Jack. "You can put Angela in my office. She can sleep on one of the couches while we do some monster hunting." He nodded, gathered Angela into his arms, and turned to go.

"I'm curious," Audrey said to Dr. Carlson. "You were great with Angela just now. CTU isn't exactly overflowing with small children. How did you get to be so great with kids?"

The doctor smiled. "I worked in a children's hospital for quite a while before coming here. Long story," she added wryly. "That's where I learned the tips and tricks."

Everyone had to laugh. "I think this place is as far from a children's hospital as you could possibly get," Audrey remarked.

Dr. Carlson laughed. "You can say that again. It's a world of difference."

Angela grinned at Dr. Carlson. "I like the doctors here," she announced to Jack. "Especially her. She's funny."

Dr. Carlson smiled. "Thank you." She patted Angela's hand. "Go with Jack and get some sleep now, sweetheart." Angela's eyelids were drooping, and she allowed her head to drop back onto Jack's shoulder as he carried her from the room.

Nadia was silent as she led Jack and Angela across the bullpen and up the flight of stairs to the office that Bill Buchanan had turned over to her when he had left CTU.

Angela's eyelids were already drooping as Jack gently laid her down on one of the soft couches. He patted her hand. "There you go. Nice and comfy. Get some sleep." Angela needed no urging. Her eyelids dipped and closed, and she was asleep within minutes.

Jack stood over the couch, silently watching Angela for several long seconds. He gently ran his thumb over her small hand before pulling away and tiptoeing from the room. They needed to get to work on searching for Kim and her captors.

_A/N #2: So, what did you think of this chapter? Did you have a favorite scene or quote? As I said before, Dr. Carlson and most of the other doctors in this story are modeled after doctors that I've had. The whole "monkeys in your ears" thing comes from my pediatrician, who I still see. She used to do that when I was little (most doctors will do something like that; check for Barney or Big Bird, etc. to get a kid to sit still and submit to a physical exam). She still does it every once in a while, just to tease me and make me laugh. Dr. Carlson's magic tricks came from another doctor that I have, the one that deals with my leg and my cerebral palsy issues. He does magic tricks to entertain me when I'm stuck in his office. Some of them are little-kid tricks that I figure out right away, but there are some (like the whole "pulling random objects out of my ear" thing) that I still haven't figured out. Maybe I'm just really naïve. But hey, it's fun._

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Nadia gathered everyone in the Situation Room for a briefing. "All right, everyone. Here's our current situation. NSA flagged two separate 911 calls and sent them to us. Roughly three hours ago, Ventura PD received a call from a woman claiming to be Chase Edmunds' neighbor. She reported hearing sounds of a fight and gunshots in the house. When officers responded to the call, they unfortunately found Agent Edmunds dead inside. He had been shot in the head at close range. A short while later, Pasadena PD received a 911 call from a woman who identified herself as Kim Bauer. We have confirmed that it was Kim. She claimed that her boyfriend had been shot and killed, and that there was an intruder in the house. When Pasadena officers responded to the call, they discovered Kim's boyfriend, Barry Landes, dead inside. He had also been shot at close range. They searched the house, but found no sign of Kim. They did find a rag soaked in chloroform and ether, and they believe that Kim was rendered unconscious and taken from the house. The only person that the officers found was a young child, a four-year-old girl. That's Chase's daughter, Angela. Kim helped him raise the girl. When they separated, they came to an agreement that Angela would spend one weekend a month with Kim. This was that weekend. For her protection, the officers brought Angela here to CTU. She's currently taking a nap in my office," Nadia added with a slight smile.

A slight chuckle rippled through the group of agents. Nadia smiled slightly, and then sobered and continued. "Currently, we have no leads on either the deaths or the kidnapping. It hasn't been proven that the death of Chase Edmunds is connected with the death of Barry Landes and the kidnapping of Kim Bauer, but I think it is safe to assume that they are connected. Forensics teams are examining the two crime scenes, and are working on matching the bullets to a specific gun. Hopefully, that will give us a positive ID on the killers, and give us an idea of who has Kim."

Jack shook his head. "My daughter seems to have a knack for getting into dangerous situations," he said ruefully.

"Which usually have to do with you," Secretary Heller spoke up from the other end of the long conference table. "Face it, Jack. The only reason that these people have Kim is because they want something from you." Nearly everyone in the room gave him a dirty look.

Jack's face flamed red with shame. "Dad — " Audrey hissed.

"No," Jack said quietly. "Maybe he's right."

"Maybe, but that still doesn't mean that he has the right to voice his opinion to the entire room!" Audrey snapped. (In the next room, Dr. Carlson heard Heller's comment. She shook her head, again thinking back to the TV special on lions that she had watched with her son. _A father lion is very protective of its young. It will fight and even kill anything that it sees as a threat.)_

Nadia held up her hands. "All right, everyone. Let's calm down. Mr. Secretary...please," she said simply. "Tempers and emotions are already high. That didn't help matters." She gave him a long, meaningful look. "Let's continue as we were, please."

Audrey got to her feet. "I'll go check on Angela for you," she said quietly to Jack.

He nodded gratefully. "Thanks."

"Thank you, Audrey," Nadia told her. "I was just about to suggest that someone do that." She went back to the briefing, and Audrey quietly left the room.

Audrey hurried across the bullpen, slowing her pace as she reached the stairs leading to Nadia's second-floor office. Slowly, quietly, she pulled the door open. Angela was just beginning to stir, and she sleepily took in her surroundings. Her eyes widened as she spotted Audrey, and she immediately drew back. "Who... who are you?"

"Hey," Audrey said quickly. "It's all right. I'm not going to hurt you." She smiled reassuringly. "I'm friends with Jack...I guess you'd consider him to be your grandpa. My name is Audrey. Do you remember me?"

Angela studied her carefully, and then nodded. "You're the lady from earlier. You were in the doctor's room with us."

Audrey nodded. "That's right." She sat down next to the child. "You were pretty sleepy earlier," she said lightly. "Did you have a nice nap?"

Angela nodded. "Uh-huh." She turned towards Audrey, and gazed at her with bright, alert green eyes. "Did they find Kim yet?"

Audrey shook her head no. "Not yet."

Angela played with a strand of her hair. "Is my daddy here yet? Can I see him?"

Again, Audrey shook her head. "I'm sorry, honey." She felt a slight flicker of guilt and pain. _How on earth were they going to tell this sweet child that she would never see her daddy again?_ Audrey didn't envy whoever was going to have to break the news.

Angela frowned slightly. "Can I see Grandpa Jack, then?"

Audrey shook her head a third time. "No, not right now. He's busy doing grown-up work. It wouldn't be any fun for you."

Angela pouted and kicked at the couch. "What _can _I do?"

"You could look out those big windows and watch all the people down there," Audrey suggested. She offered her hand to the child. "Or you could come with me. I'll set you up at a desk on the main floor, so you can be by everybody."

Angela's eyes lit up. "Okay!" She slipped her hand into Audrey's, and willingly followed her down the stairs to the bullpen.

Audrey situated the girl at an empty desk on the main floor, in a position where she could watch everyone, and snatched a handful of paper and a box of colored markers from the supply room. "Here you go." Angela immediately reached for a marker and began to draw. Before leaving to bring Angela to CTU, Lieutenant McLaughlin had hastily, but nonetheless thoughtfully, taken the time to pack a bag with clothes and familiar toys for the child. Audrey located the pink backpack and handed it to Angela. "Look what I found," she said with a smile.

Angela's eyes lit up. "My toys!" She reached for the backpack, and placed its contents on the table: a handful of dolls and teddy bears, and an assortment of coloring books. "Will you color with me?"

Enchanted by the child, Audrey sat down across from her and accepted a crayon. "Sure." They set to work coloring in a picture of Cinderella.

Angela paused in her coloring and glanced up. "Audrey, do you know lots of things?"

"I think so," Audrey answered thoughtfully. "You know pretty many things by the time you're a grown-up."

Angela abandoned her crayons. "Okay, then, where does Santa live?"

"At the North Pole," Audrey replied, rising to the little girl's challenge.

"Why is the grass green?" Angela demanded next.

"Because they ran out of purple paint," Audrey answered, biting her lip to hide a smile.

The "Question Game" continued, with Audrey providing answers that made Angela shriek with laughter.

Several minutes later, Audrey glanced up to find Jack watching them with an amused smile. "Having fun, you two?"

"Yes!" Angela told him with a grin. "We're coloring pictures. Audrey's good at coloring; her pictures are pretty. And she's being really funny."

Jack smiled. "Good." He glanced at Audrey. "You missed the rest of the meeting. Nadia's a bit steamed."

"Brief me later," she requested.

Jack nodded. Audrey and Angela went back to their coloring. Jack continued watching his two girls for a while longer, and then he stepped away and re-joined the rest of the agents. They resumed their hunt for Kim and her captors.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Jack was startled out of his reverie when his cell phone vibrated and let out a loud chirp. Slightly annoyed, he fished the ringing phone from his pocket and answered it. "Bauer."

"Hello, Mr. Bauer."

Jack froze. Frantically, he motioned for Chloe to trace and record the call. "Cheng Zhi? What do you want?"

Instead of answering, Cheng asked, "Do you have access to a computer?"

"Yes," Jack replied slowly. "Why?"

"I want you to get me a file," Cheng said curtly. "You're looking for a file labeled 'CLASS-SIG-24515.' Do you understand?"

"I-I... yeah." Jack scribbled down the number. "What makes you think that I'll give it to you?" he added.

"Because," Cheng replied confidently. "I have something that you want."

"The circuit board."

"Well, yes, there is that." Cheng sounded smug and delighted with himself. "But there is something else as well. A little _extra incentive,_ you might say."

There was a scuffling sound as the phone seemed to change hands. "Who is this?" Jack demanded.

"Dad?"

Jack's blood ran cold. _"Kim?"_ he gasped. "Sweetheart, are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"I-I...no. No, they didn't hurt me. I'm fine." Her voice trembled as she spoke, however, and Jack knew that Kim was lying. He gritted his teeth in anger, clutching the phone so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Dad, I don't know what they want!" Kim's voice broke, and Jack heard her draw in a ragged breath. "I'm scared. Get me out of here, Dad, please!" She was crying. "Please, get me out of here."

Jack bit his lip and swallowed hard, trying desperately to rein in his own emotions. "I know you're scared, honey. And I promise you that I'm going to get you out of there. Do you hear me, Kim? I'm going to help you. That's a promise. You're going to be fine."

Kim gasped slightly. "I-I — "

There was a loud scuffle as the phone abruptly changed hands. "Kim?" Jack shouted desperately. _"Kim!"_

"That's enough, Mr. Bauer." Cheng's voice was sharp and curt. "You've spoken with her; she is fine. No harm will come to her if you do as I say. Understand?"

"Yeah," Jack bit out.

"Good. Now, listen closely to me. I want that file. Contact me when you are ready, and I will give you more specific instructions." With that, the line went dead.

Jack exhaled shakily. "Oh, Jesus..." He glanced up. "He wants — "

"We heard," Chloe interrupted. "He wants a file." She keyed a set of commands into her computer. "And it looks like it's— oh, no. You've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Jack demanded, locking eyes with her. "What is it?"

Chloe looked grim. "He wants the Sigma File." She hesitated. "It's a highly classified file. Only about three people in the entire world know what's in it. It contains the identities, aliases, contacts, and escape routes for hundreds, if not thousands, of government agents embedded in hostile territories. For it to be leaked and compromised would be a crushing blow to the US and its allies."

Jack shook his head disgusted. "Cheng Zhi must think we're stupid. Does he honestly think we'd just hand something like that over to him?"

"He knows you love your daughter, and don't want to see her get hurt," Nadia said softly.

Jack's gaze traveled around the room before landing on the blank gray tiled wall in front of him. He stared blankly at it without seeming to see it. "What can I do?" he asked desperately. "I can't give up that file. That would be like committing treason. But Cheng Zhi will kill my daughter if I don't give it to him," he almost whispered. "I can't lose Kim. She's pretty much the only family I have left. What else can I do?"

"You could give him the file, but rig it somehow," Audrey suggested. "You did that once before with that German operative, the one that gave us Collette Stenger."

"Theo Stoller," Jack said, remembering. "He asked for the WET list. It's a list of known and suspected international terrorists, as well as people who allegedly aid them. I gave him the file on a thumb drive, but rigged it to self-destruct when he plugged it into his PDA."

"Can you do that again?" Audrey asked.

Jack shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Maybe." He met Chloe's gaze. "How confident are you that you can make it look real? If Cheng suspects anything, he won't hesitate to kill Kim. And he'll most likely kill me as well."

"Are you willing to take that risk?" Nadia asked gently.

Jack nodded, but sighed. "I'm not worried about me. I'm willing to make that sacrifice. But I can't stand the thought of Kim dying at Cheng's hand. I can't let that happen." He glanced at Chloe. "Again, how confident are you that you can make the file look real?"

"Have a little faith," she replied curtly. "We can do it."

"We'll do our best, Jack," Morris added, more gently. "We want to see Kim safe as much as you do."

Jack sighed heavily and ran a hand wearily over his face. To Audrey, he seemed to age twenty years in that split second. "Do it."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

While Chloe and Morris worked on creating and rigging the file, Audrey was slowly formulating a plan. It was bold and incredibly risky, but she was determined to try. Without a word, she slipped away from the bullpen and headed towards the firing range.

The agent in charge of the armory, a man named Steven Regan, greeted her with a smile. "Hey there, Audrey. What can I do for you?"

Audrey rested her palms on the countertop. "I'd like to get some target practice in. Is there an open spot on the range?"

Steven nodded. "William McDonnell is the only one there. All the other spots are open." He placed a case containing a 9mm Beretta handgun on the counter. "Here you go," he said with a smile. "Trying to beat Jack, eh?"

Slightly apprehensively, Audrey smiled back. "Something like that, yes." (With the Secretary of Defense as her father, Audrey had acquired a reasonable amount of knowledge on the handling and firing of various handguns and rifles. She prided herself on being quite a good marksman. Jack had brought her to the firing range several times to allow her to practice and train. Audrey enjoyed the playful competition between them, and was constantly trying to better her skills and challenge Jack.) She prayed that her nervousness didn't show. Her plan depended on Steven's agreement, and for him to become suspicious would ruin everything. "Actually," she said carefully, "I think I'd like to shoot something besides the Beretta, if you don't mind."

Steven nodded. "Sure. What's your fancy? Glock? SigSauer? H&K? Walther?"

Audrey hesitated. "I'd like to work with one of the rifles."

Steven immediately reached towards the locked case behind him. "Why don't you try—?"

Audrey interrupted him. "I think I'd like to try one of the assault rifles."

Steven arched his eyebrows. "I'm not sure I can let you do that. Those require a bit of training. The AR-15 and M-16 are mighty powerful weapons. They'll leave a bruise the size of California if you're not holding them properly."

Audrey laughed slightly. "I know. But I want to try."

Steven shook his head. "I'm sorry, Audrey. I can't let you do that. Someone would need to work with you—one of the weapons specialists, Chloe, Jack, or me—and none of us have the time right now." He glanced sideways at her. "Why is it so urgent that you learn to handle the assault weapons?"

Audrey shrugged nonchalantly. "No particular reason." She met his gaze. "Look. You can trust me. I'm not going to try to pull anything, if that's what you're worried about."

Steven shook his head. "I wasn't. That thought hadn't crossed my mind." He handed her the case containing the Beretta handgun and ammunition magazines. "Tell you what. Take the Beretta for now, and I promise that I'll work with you on the assault weapons when I have time later."

Audrey sighed. "All right. Thanks." Slightly reluctantly, she accepted the case, collected a pair of safety goggles and a set of earplugs, and opened the door to the firing range. _What was she going to do now?_

The sound of gunfire greeted Audrey as she stepped onto the range. She saw that William McDonnell was expertly handling an assault rifle, and she shook her head.

William spotted Audrey, and placed his rifle down on the table as he raised a hand in greeting. "Hey there."

Audrey smiled. "Hi." She nodded towards the cases sitting on the table. "What are you shooting?"

"A SigSauer P228 and an M-16," William told her. He rubbed his shoulder, smiling ruefully. "The M-16 probably wasn't the best choice. Don't tell Dr. Carlson. She'd strangle me. I don't think I'm supposed to be shooting this soon; my arm and my side probably aren't fully healed yet. But I couldn't resist."

Audrey laughed. "Your secret's safe with me." She glanced at the sleek black rifle that William held. "Do you think I could try the M-16?"

His eyebrow arched, and he looked at her questioningly. "You? Why?"

Audrey shrugged nonchalantly. "No particular reason. I just want to see if I can do it."

William laughed. "Trying to impress Jack, eh?"

Audrey smiled. "You could say that."

William nodded. "All right. I guess it couldn't hurt." He handed her an ammunition magazine. "Here, load that for me." Audrey did as he asked. "Nice," William commented. "Have you done that before?"

"Not with the M-16," Audrey told him. "I've loaded plenty of pistol magazines, though, and I got a crash course on how to load and handle an AK-47 when my father and I were trying to escape from Habib Marwan."

"The M-16 is nothing like the AK-47," William warned her. "The AK-47 is the weapon of choice for a lot of terrorists, and it's designed to be light and easy to handle. The M-16's recoil packs quite a wallop." He glanced sideways at her. "Still think you're up to it?"

Audrey nodded. "Only one way to find out," she said with a slight smile. "Show me what to do."

William helped her bring the rifle up to her shoulder and showed her how to hold it. "There you go. Now, release the safety catch and put your finger on the trigger. There, that's it. Ready, and... fire."

The recoil took Audrey by surprise, and she flinched as the rifle butt slammed into her shoulder. "Ouch!"

William chuckled. "Don't say I didn't warn you. You want to try again?" Audrey nodded. William helped her position the rifle more firmly against her shoulder and adjust her grip on it. "There, see if that helps."

The lesson continued. William was a decent instructor, patiently helping Audrey learn to handle the rifle; gently correcting her mistakes, and showing her what to do. "Nice job," he commented after she scored several perfect bulls-eyes in a row. "I think you're getting the hang of it. Do you think I can leave you alone now?"

"Sure. I think I've got it." Audrey smiled. "Thanks for the help."

William nodded. "No problem." He placed the rifle and pistol in their cases, collected them, and left the range.

Audrey turned her attention back to the rifle and the targets in front of her. She was slowly forming a plan, and she prayed that it would work.


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: What is Audrey up to? So glad you liked this last chapter. And OMG, __**jen!**__When I read your song lyrics, I laughed so hard that my dogs and my parents came in to check on me! Thanks for the laugh. A note to everybody else: Go to the reviews section and read the ditty that __**jen**__ wrote for Chapter 21. It made my day, and I'm sure it will entertain you!_

_Thanks to everyone else for the reviews as well. I always enjoy reading your comments. These past few weeks have been rough and stressful for me, and your comments cheered me up greatly._

_Here's Chapter 22._

Chapter 22

A little over two hours had passed by the time Chloe and Morris finished their work. They had worked closely with CTU's explosives specialists to copy the file that Cheng wanted. No one who didn't already know would be able to tell that the thumb drive was packed with explosives and designed to self-destruct.

Chloe handed the device to Jack. "It's done."

He took it, and inspected it carefully. At last, he nodded. "Good work. Thank you."

Chloe nodded curtly. "You're welcome."

Jack turned the device over in his hands. "I just hope it's good enough to fool Cheng," he added grimly.

Nadia placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's only one way to find out," she said quietly, handing him his cell phone. "Call Cheng Zhi and tell him that you're ready."

Taking a deep breath, Jack picked up the phone and dialed.

"You try my patience, Mr. Bauer," Cheng Zhi greeted him. "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes," Jack said brusquely. "I have the file that you asked for."

"Ah, good." Cheng sounded smugly satisfied. He rattled off a series of directions. "That will bring you to an old abandoned warehouse. Meet me there in one hour, and bring the file." He paused. "Come alone. And understand this, Mr. Bauer. I am not a stupid man. For the sake of your daughter's life, I advise you not to try anything. My men will not hesitate to kill her if you compromise the plan in any way. Do you understand?"

"Yeah," Jack bit out. "Now _you_ need to understand something. If you lay a hand on my daughter, I swear to God that I will kill you. Slowly and painfully. Understand?"

"Yes." Cheng sounded impatient. "I understand."

"Good," Jack spat. Before Cheng could say another word, Jack hung up the phone.

His shoulders slumped. "All right, then, that's the way it'll be. I'll have to do this on my own."

"Not a chance," Doyle shot back. "It's way too risky. If you go alone, with no backup, there will be absolutely nothing to stop Cheng from grabbing you and disappearing with you again. You are absolutely not going in there by yourself."

"Yes, I am," Jack said firmly. "You heard Cheng. If I do anything to compromise this, he'll kill Kim. And me as well, most likely. I don't care about me, but I won't let my daughter get hurt!"

"She won't," Doyle told him. "I promise. We'll be very careful. But we are going to take a TAC team along, whether you like it or not."

Jack shook his head. "You're right, I don't like it. But you're not going to let it go. All right, what's the plan?"

**-o-o-o-o-**

Their entire plan depended solely on time. When Cheng realized that he had been double-crossed, he would be furious. A group of the TAC agents were to move in and rush Kim to safety before Cheng had time to react. The rest of the agents would stage a gunfight and provide cover fire for Jack. In the ensuing chaos, he hoped to catch Cheng off guard and capture him. Once that was accomplished, the TAC agents would leave. Jack could only hope and pray that nothing would go wrong.

"Clock's ticking, guys. Let's get a move on," Doyle called out. "Jack, you ready?"

Jack finished fastening the straps on his Kevlar vest. "Yeah."

"All right, teams, move out," Doyle ordered. "Move it, Jack. Let's go."

Audrey met them in the doorway. "Jack..." she whispered, hugging him tightly. "Stay safe. _Please."_

He returned the tight hug, and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. "I will. I promise." With that, he pulled away and rejoined the TAC teams.

Amid the chaos as the agents prepared to leave, no one noticed Audrey as she slipped away from the bullpen and silently disappeared down the corridor leading to the firing range.

Audrey's heart was in her throat as she reached into her pocket for the key that she had lifted from Steven Regan's desk an hour earlier. Silently, stealthily, she unlocked the door to the armory and pushed it open.

It was time to put her plan into action.


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Glad you're liking these chapters. And, __**jen,**__ you've done it again. "Kung pao Cheng", "house-fried henchmen", and "Jack-go-boom" had me laughing out loud. I'm sure my parents think I'm crazy. And, in regards to the Jack-Cheng smackdown...we'll see..._

_Enjoy this latest chapter, everybody!_

Chapter 23

Under the cover of darkness, two black CTU-issue SUV's made their way towards the warehouse that Cheng Zhi had mentioned. "There it is," Jack whispered. "Ahead, on the left." In the passenger's seat next to him, Doyle nodded; he'd seen it as well.

"All teams, we have reached our destination," Doyle radioed. "So far, there is no sign of Cheng Zhi. Take your positions." The TAC team took up their positions, hiding themselves amidst the rocks and foliage that surrounded the abandoned building. The nighttime darkness provided further cover: the agents, dressed in black Kevlar, seemed to vanish into the air.

Jack surveyed the hidden agents. Once they had gone, he would be alone with Cheng. It would be just the two of them, Jack Bauer and Cheng Zhi, two enemies with a thirst for revenge.

Jack had waited long enough; he would wait no longer. He vowed that Cheng Zhi would pay for what he had done. One way or another, Jack Bauer was going to get revenge.

**-o-o-o-o-**

In the darkness, Jack almost failed to notice the black car that had pulled up next to the warehouse. The light of the moon glinting off of one of the headlights caught his eye, and Jack turned towards the car. Cheng Zhi had arrived.


	24. Chapter 24

_A/N: I'm putting 2 chapters up since the last one was really short._

Chapter 24

Cheng unfolded his lanky frame from the car and surveyed Jack smugly. "Ah, Mr. Bauer, we meet again." He met Jack's gaze with a steely stare of his own. "Give me the file."

Jack shook his head. "Let me see my daughter."

Cheng huffed impatiently, but turned towards the car and barked a command in Chinese. The rear door opened, and Kim was unceremoniously shoved out of the car. Her hands and feet were bound, and she stumbled as she was shoved towards Cheng. He caught her, and roughly jerked her towards him. "You see, Mr. Bauer? Here is your daughter."

"Uncover her mouth," Jack snapped. "And untie her." Kim shot him a grateful glance. Cheng reached forward and roughly ripped away the strip of silver duct tape that covered her mouth, making her yelp. In the same brusque manner, he broke through the thick strips of tape that bound her wrists and ankles. An audible sigh of relief escaped Kim's lips as she rubbed her chafed wrists.

"There," Cheng said curtly. "You have seen her; she is fine. Now give me the file."

Again, Jack shook his head. "Not a chance. What's to keep you from shooting us both once you have that file?"

Cheng smirked cruelly. "Absolutely nothing."

"Thought so. Release Kim," Jack ordered. "Once I know that she's safe, I'll give you the file."

Cheng turned to Kim. "All right. You heard your father." He roughly shoved her forward. "Go."

Kim turned to Jack, looking at him uncertainly. "It's all right, sweetheart," Jack said quietly. "Go on." Kim held his gaze for another long moment, and then turned and walked away.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Kim picked up her pace as she approached the gently sloping hill in front of her. At the top, she saw a black SUV waiting, and she knew that it was a CTU vehicle. If she could reach it, she'd be safe. She broke into a run.

Suddenly, a black-clad man sprang from the bushes off to her left and lunged towards her. Kim opened her mouth to scream, but the sound was cut off by a choked gasp and a grunt as the man tackled her and sent her crashing to the ground. Enraged, Kim fought wildly against her assailant. She attacked furiously, kicking and clawing wildly.

"Whoa, whoa! Take it easy," the man hissed. She tried to yell, but the man clamped a hand over her mouth and held it there. "It's all right; you're safe!" With his free hand, he reached into his pocket and withdrew his ID. "My name is Mike Doyle. I'm with CTU. We've got you now; you're safe." Kim's chest heaved with ragged breaths, but she stopped struggling momentarily.

Mike Doyle used the opportunity to get to his feet and pull her up with him. "We've got to go. Come on." He didn't give her a chance to catch her breath, just scrambled up the embankment with her in tow. When they reached the top of the hill, he unceremoniously shoved her into the waiting SUV and climbed in after her, slamming the door behind them. "Sorry about that," he apologized, removing his hand from over her mouth and helping her sit upright. "We had to get you out of there."

Kim looked at him for the first time. "Thank you."

Doyle nodded. "No problem. You're welcome." He handed her a bottle of water. "Here, drink some of that. You look like you could use it."

Kim unscrewed the lid and raised the bottle to her lips. She greedily gulped the water, enjoying the feeling as she allowed the cool liquid to soothe her parched throat. "Thanks," she managed after a few moments.

"You're welcome." Doyle took the bottle from her and replaced the cap. "We're going to take you back to CTU. Once the docs are finished checking you out, they'll get you more water and some food. Okay?"

Kim shook her head. "No! I mean, yes, the food sounds great—I'm starving—but I'm not going back to CTU," she said firmly. "I'm staying right here. I'm going to wait for my father. I want to see him."

"Your dad's fine, I promise," Doyle assured her. "You'll see him later." Kim met his gaze with a steady stare, and he relented. "Okay, okay. We'll wait here for him if that's what you want."

Kim nodded. "Thanks."

They sat back to wait.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Cheng watched as Kim disappeared over the top of the sloping hill. "That's far enough." His voice was like steel. "You've procrastinated long enough, Mr. Bauer. Give me that file. _Now."_

Taking a deep breath, Jack reached a hand into his jacket pocket and withdrew the case containing the thumb drive. "Here." He tossed it towards Cheng. _Please, God..._

Cheng caught the device, looking smug. "Thank you."

Jack never heard the man's next words. At that moment, all hell broke loose as the TAC agents burst from their hiding places and opened fire.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Cheng glanced around frantically as bullets flew through the air around him. He dropped to the ground and dove for cover behind a large boulder. Safely hidden, he reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a pistol.

He never got to fire a shot. The air rushed from his lungs with a whoosh as someone slammed into him from behind and sent him crashing to the ground.

The person grabbed his shirt collar and jerked his head up. Cheng Zhi's eyes widened in horror and fear as he glanced up...and found himself staring into Jack Bauer's face.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Jack smirked as he saw Cheng's eyes widen slightly. Without a word, he got to his feet and pulled Cheng up with him. When the TAC agents saw Jack get to his feet, with Cheng firmly in his grasp, they immediately stopped firing. The ensuing silence was eerie. Without a word, the agents holstered their weapons and stepped away, disappearing as silently as they had come.

Jack's features twisted into a cold, almost wicked, smile of satisfaction. "I've been waiting a long time for this, Cheng Zhi," he whispered harshly. He forced Cheng to look in the direction that the TAC agents had gone. "They're gone. They left. It's just you and me." He gave Cheng a shove in the direction of the dark, empty warehouse. "You and I are going to have a little chat. Start walking."


	25. Chapter 25

_A/N: So glad you liked this last chapter! Thanks a ton for the reviews! __**Jen**__, in your review, you asked why none of the TAC team's shots hit Cheng. _

_My computer randomly erased all of my Word files a few weeks ago, so I had to re-type all the rest of the chapters of this story (I had up to Chapter 17 posted here). In the original version of this chapter, Kim freaks out when she hears the gunfire. Doyle explains that the gunfire is cover fire, and that the TAC agents were specifically ordered NOT to hit Cheng. (It's difficult, but it can be done.) Their instructions were to lay down cover fire and provide a distraction so Jack could capture Cheng. (In real life, someone like Cheng would probably be arrested and tried for war crimes, but it's also possible that someone in Jack's situation would seek revenge and kill the person before that could happen. Doyle and the TAC guys knew that Cheng would probably never make it to trial; that Jack would most likely kill him.) _

_I guess I forgot to include that part when I re-wrote this chapter. Sorry for the confusion!_

_ANYWAY...let's see what Jack has in store for Cheng Zhi, shall we??_

Chapter 25

Jack propelled Cheng firmly in the direction of the empty warehouse. "I've waited a long time for this." His smile disappeared. Jack tightened his grip on the man's arm and kept walking.

Suddenly, a gunshot split the air. Cheng howled in pain as he fell to the ground, clutching his right ankle. Bright red blood spilled from between his fingers.

_What the...?_ Instinctively, Jack grabbed his pistol from its holster and returned fire. _Click, click._ "Dammit!" he growled. "It's jammed." There wasn't time to clear the jam. Jack flipped the safety catch on, unloaded the gun, and re-holstered it. "Don't even think about trying to go anywhere," he ordered Cheng. The man didn't move. Jack ran across the clearing to where Cheng's car was parked. Inside, the lone guard was dead. Next to him, on the seat, was a police-issue shotgun. Jack didn't take the time to puzzle over why the guard had been carrying a shotgun instead of a sniper rifle or a pistol. He just snatched up the weapon, chambered a round, and fired a shot in the direction that the gunfire had come from.

A high-pitched cry echoed through the air, and Jack nodded in grim satisfaction as he shouldered the rifle and turned back to Cheng. "Whichever of your goons was hiding back there, they can't help you now."

Cheng frowned, puzzled. "That was not one of my men. The only people that accompanied me were your daughter and a guard. The guard is dead; your agents killed him."

"Well, it sure wasn't me," Jack retorted. "And my team already left. That leaves you and your men. Personally, I'm leaning towards that choice." He shook his head. "Get up. You and I are going to have a little talk. You know what, forget it. We're beyond talking. You are gonna pay. Consider it my gift to you in return for kidnapping and torturing me, torturing and traumatizing Audrey Raines, and trying to kill my daughter."

"We weren't going to kill her," Cheng told him. "We only wanted her to lead us to you."

"Like hell," Jack snorted scornfully. "Does this ring a bell? _'For the sake of your daughter's life, I advise you not to try anything. My men will not hesitate to kill her.'_ Remember that?" Cheng nodded silently. "Yeah, I thought so."

Cheng glanced at him. "I have a wife and a daughter of my own, Mr. Bauer."

"Do you?"

Cheng nodded. "A wife, named Minghua, and a four-year-old girl named Mei-Li." He smiled slightly. "She is beautiful, like her mother."

"How would you feel if someone kidnapped your little girl and threatened to kill her?" Jack asked coldly. Cheng lowered his eyes. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, I feel the same way about my daughter."

"Then, for her sake, I am glad you made the right choice," Cheng shot back. This was the Cheng Zhi that Jack knew. Gone was the slight trace of a compassionate father. In its place was cold, ruthless manipulation and pure villainy. "Your daughter is a beautiful young woman. She doesn't deserve to die."

"No, but _you_ do." A woman's voice rang out from the shadows beyond the warehouse. Jack recognized that voice. Before he had time to process and identify it, however, gunshots split the air. The sharp, steady bark of rapid assault-rifle fire filled the air as gunfire erupted from the shadows. White fire poured forth from a rifle hidden in the darkness, lighting the area with a strobe-like effect. A strangled cry came from Cheng Zhi, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

At last, the volley of shots was replaced by a dry clicking sound that meant that the rifle was out of ammunition. The clicking continued, signaling that the shooter was continuing to pull the trigger even though the gun was empty. "Cease fire!" Jack yelled. "Your gun is out of ammo; it's useless! Put it down and come out to where I can see you!" He waited tensely. From beyond the side of the warehouse, he heard soft gasps and whimpers. It was the sound of someone injured, trying to hide their pain. Cautiously, Jack moved towards the sound.

He rounded the corner of the building...and stopped in his tracks as he came face-to-face with Audrey.

_A/N: Dun-dun-DUNNN..._


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Jack froze. "Audrey?" he gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Fixing this, once and for all," she replied bitterly.

Jack's eyes widened in horror as realization hit. Slowly, he allowed his gaze to travel downward. An M-16 assault rifle lay across Audrey's lap. The buckshot from the shotgun had torn up her right leg, and it was bleeding heavily. She had pressed both hands firmly against the wound in a vain attempt to slow the bleeding, seemingly unaware of the blood that was rapidly pooling around her legs. "Oh, Jesus," Jack whispered, horrified. "Audrey..."

She glanced up at him. Her face was drawn and taut with pain. "It hurts," she whimpered pitifully. "I can't get the bleeding to stop."

Jack knelt down next to her and examined the wound. "My God, Audrey. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Audrey said earnestly. "You did what made sense. I don't blame you. You thought I was one of Cheng's men. That's the logical assumption." She glanced at her leg, and then at Jack. "I brought my car. It's parked behind the warehouse. In the backseat, there's an old sweatshirt and a big blanket. If you get them, we can use them for tourniquets."

Jack immediately went to find the items, and returned shortly with them. Kneeling down next to Audrey again, he began to tear the blanket into thick strips. "Can you walk?" he asked.

Audrey shook her head. "I tried to stand up earlier, but I couldn't. It hurt too badly." She clutched at Jack's hand as a wave of white-hot pain radiated through her leg. "Aah..."

Jack saw that Audrey's face was drawn and pinched with pain, and she was quickly growing more pale and pallid. He knew that she was losing blood rapidly, and he frantically tried to calculate how much she could stand to lose. "We've got to get the bleeding to stop," he said gravely. "I'm going to need to put some pressure on that wound. I'll try not to hurt you."

Audrey nodded tensely. "Do whatever you have to."

Jack took one of the cloth strips and pressed it firmly against the profusely bleeding wound. Audrey cried out in pain, and Jack saw the muscles in her jaw clench hard as she bit her lip to keep from making any further sound. Working quickly, he fashioned a makeshift tourniquet from the cloth strips, and firmly wrapped the bleeding wound. "There. It's not great, but it'll do until we can get you back to CTU."

Audrey drew in a ragged breath. "Thanks."

Jack gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Look at me. I need you to stand up. I know it hurts, but I need you to try." Audrey bit her lip, but nodded. Gently, carefully, Jack helped her to her feet. Slowly and painfully, they made their way across the clearing to the base of the hill.

Audrey shook her head. "No," she whispered painfully. "Jack, I can't. It's a small hill, but there's no way I can make it. We need help."

Jack nodded. "Okay. Just hang on. Let me contact Doyle." He frowned. "His instructions were to take Kim and leave. What is he still doing here? Oh, well, it doesn't matter now. I'll see if he can give us a hand."

**-o-o-o-o-**

Kim tensed at the sound of the assault-rifle fire from below them. "Thatwas definitely _not_ cover fire from the TAC team! That was an M-16! Who is that?"

Doyle shook his head. "I have no idea. None of our agents are carrying assault weapons." He tried to peer through the thick brush and foliage. "Damn. Can't see anything through these trees."

Several tense moments passed as they sat silently, waiting and listening. Suddenly, Doyle's radio crackled to life. "Mike, it's Jack. I don't know what you're still doing here, but right now I don't care. I need some help here."

Doyle grabbed the radio. "Sure thing, Jack. Hey, we heard assault-rifle fire a few minutes ago. What's up? Everything okay down there?"

"No problems with Cheng, if that's what you mean," Jack replied. "But I've got Audrey here. She's been hit. I need some help getting her up this hill and into the car. We need to get her back to CTU fast."

"_Audrey?"_ Doyle asked incredulously. "What is _she_ doing here?"

"I'll explain in a minute," Jack told him. "For now, come give us a hand."

"Will do." Doyle glanced at Kim, who looked as though she was about to leap from her seat and rip the radio from his hands. "Hey, Jack, I've got Kim here. She looks like she's ready to do battle with me for the radio. Got a second to talk to her?"

"Not really," Jack said shortly. "Sorry, Kimmy. I've got my hands full right now. Bring her with you, Mike. Just get down here!"

"Copy that. We're on our way." Doyle allowed the radio to fall back to the seat, and turned to Kim. "You heard him. Let's go."

Kim needed no further urging. She was out of the vehicle and heading down the hill before Doyle had even opened his door. Shaking his head, he caught up with her. "Take my hand." They half-rand and half-slid down the steep embankment, clinging to each other's hands to keep their balance.

When they reached level ground at the bottom of the hill, Doyle helped Kim regain her balance, and then they dashed towards Jack and Audrey.

"Dad!" Kim gasped. She bolted from Doyle's side and rushed towards her father. Jack quickly but carefully lowered Audrey to the ground, and ran towards his daughter. They met halfway and fell into each other's arms, clinging tightly. "Dad," Kim sobbed. "Daddy... I was so worried... I heard those gunshots... oh, God, Dad..."

"Shh," Jack soothed, fighting the tears that threatened to spill from his own eyes. "Shhh. It's all right, baby. I'm all right. I'm here; you're safe." He cupped his daughter's chin in his hands, and used his thumb to gently wipe away her tears. "Everything's fine now." They clung to each other for another few moments, hugging tightly and sharing whispered words. At last, Jack pulled away. "Sorry about that, Audie."

"No, no, it's okay." Her face was drawn and pale, but she smiled wanly. "Take all the time you want. I'm fine."

"No, you're definitely _not,"_ Jack said firmly. "Let's get you up the hill and into the car. Mike, if you can get her left side, I'll stay on her right. Kim, sweetheart, can you give us a hand? I need you to walk behind Audrey as we go up this hill. Make sure she doesn't fall backwards and land on that leg. Okay?" Kim, Doyle, and Audrey all nodded. "Okay, then, let's go."

They made their way up the hill, slowly and carefully. Jack and Doyle half-led and half-carried Audrey between them, and Kim walked carefully behind her, keeping a gentle hand on her back to support her from behind. It was a slow, agonizingly painful climb for Audrey, but she gritted her teeth and kept going. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief when they reached the top of the hill and found themselves on level ground.

Audrey exhaled shakily. "Whew! That was interesting. We made it." She grimaced. "Aah...ow. I need to sit down. My leg is killing me."

"No problem." Quickly, carefully, Doyle helped her sit down in the backseat of the SUV and prop up her leg. "There. Comfortable?"

Audrey nodded weakly. "Uh-huh. Thanks. Jack says there's a first-aid kit in here. By any chance, is there any medication for pain in it?"

"There is," Doyle reported, "but it's only Aleve and Tylenol. Not exactly potent pain relievers. If you can hang in there until we get back to CTU, there's some stronger stuff in Medical. Demerol, codeine, Vicodin, that sort of thing. Can you hold out?"

Audrey nodded, but grimaced. "I think so. Just hurry, please. I can't wait for too much longer."

Doyle smiled sympathetically. "Hang in there. We'll have you back at CTU in a few minutes. Let's go."

"Not yet," Jack spoke up. "There's one last thing that we need to take care of. Kim, can you stay here with Audrey for a few minutes?" She nodded. "Thanks, sweetheart," Jack told her. "Mike, come with me for a second." Doyle followed him around to the rear of the SUV, outside the closed door and out of Kim's earshot. "There are two body bags in the trunk," Jack said quietly. "Get them." He tossed Doyle a set of keys. "Those are Audrey's car keys. I'm pretty sure that you'll find a case for an M-16 in her trunk. Get it and come with me."

"An M-16 case?" Doyle demanded. "Body bags? Jack, what's going on?"

"I'll explain later," Jack said over his shoulder. "Just get the bags and the case and follow me!" Shaking his head, Doyle did as he asked.

His mouth dropped open as he spotted Cheng Zhi's bullet-riddled body, in a crumpled heap next to the door of the warehouse. "What on earth...? What the _hell _happened here?"

"Audrey," Jack said over his shoulder as he pulled the body of Cheng's guard from the car. "Apparently, she gained access to the CTU armory and snuck out an M-16 without anyone noticing. She then came here and waited for Cheng and our team to show up. Once the TAC team and you had left and we were alone, she fired off a shot and hit him in the ankle. Then, a few minutes later, she opened fire again and didn't stop until she ran out of ammo."

Doyle whistled softly as he examined Cheng's body. "Damn, Jack. I think you taught her a little _too _well. This guy's got more holes in him than a piece of Swiss cheese!"

Jack shook his head. "I didn't teach her that. Her father taught her quite a bit about guns; she's a great shot. I've been working with her to give her some extra practice with the handguns, but I've never worked with her on the assault weapons. I don't know who taught her to shoot like that."

"Where did that gunshot wound to her leg come from?" Doyle asked, helping Jack place the guard's body in a body bag and zip it.

Jack looked grim. "Me. I had no clue she was here. When she fired that first shot and hit Cheng in the ankle, I thought it was one of his men. My gun jammed, so I grabbed the guard's shotgun and returned fire. I hit her in the leg. She was quiet for a while, probably trying to deal with the pain, and then she opened fire again. Once all the gunfire stopped, I came around the corner to see what was up, and came face-to-face with her." He shook his head. "Jesus, I feel awful. I swear I didn't know it was Audrey. I never meant to hurt her."

"You did what made sense," Doyle assured him. "Don't beat yourself up." He helped Jack place Cheng Zhi's battered body into a body bag and zip it closed. "There."

"Thanks." Jack dumped the two bodies in a haphazard heap. "We'll take them back to CTU and put them in the morgue until we can figure out what to do next."

Doyle busied himself with packing the discarded M-16 into its case. His eyes widened as he collected the ammunition magazines. "Jack, look at this. There are two twenty-round mags here. One's empty." He glanced at the body bags. "No wonder Cheng looks so bad. Audrey emptied a twenty-round clip into him." Jack could only shake his head in disbelief.

Working together, they carried the two bodies between them up the steep hill and placed them in the trunk of the SUV. Jack slammed the tailgate closed. "There. Let's get out of here. I want to get Audrey back to CTU. She needs to get to Medical ASAP."

Doyle climbed behind the steering wheel, and Jack slid into the passenger seat. "How are you holding up, Audie?" he asked, turning to look at her.

She grimaced. "Not too great. My leg's starting to hurt more."

"We'll have you back at CTU soon," Doyle spoke up, glancing sympathetically at her. "Just hang in there." Audrey nodded weakly. With a grimace, she leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.

Without a word, Doyle steered the car away from the warehouse. They drove back to CTU in silence.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

When they pulled into CTU's back parking lot, Kim reached over and gently shook Audrey awake. Slowly, carefully, they helped her out of the car and led her into the building. Together, Jack and Doyle half-led and half-carried her down the hallway to the medical bay, with Kim following close behind.

Dr. Carlson took one look at Audrey's injured leg, and immediately ordered her to be prepped for surgery. "Sorry about this," she apologized as she helped Audrey climb into bed. "But you've got quite a mess here, and it's going to take some work to fix it."

"Do what you have to do." Audrey's face was drawn and pinched with pain as she leaned back and rested her head against the pillow. "My leg hurts," she added groggily.

"I know it does," Dr. Carlson said kindly. "Audrey, look at me," she added firmly, giving Audrey's shoulder a gentle shake. "The adrenaline's wearing off, and you're starting to go into shock. That's why you're so groggy. I know you feel awful, and you want to close your eyes and take a snooze. But you can't. You've got to stay awake. Once we have you stabilized and prepped for surgery, then you can take a nice nap while we fix your leg. For now, though, you need to stay awake. Jack, keep talking to her," she ordered. "Keep her eyes on you, and keep her awake. Do not let her fall asleep." Jack and Audrey nodded in understanding.

Jack sat by Audrey's side for the next ten minutes, holding her hand tightly and murmuring soothing words, as the medical team worked to prep her for surgery. Her eyelids drooped as she was transferred to a stretcher for the short trip into the operating room. "We're all set," Dr. Carlson announced.

Audrey was sleepily rubbing her shoulder, trying to dispel the sting from the series of injections that she had been given to sedate her for the operation. "Ow. That hurt."

Jack smiled sympathetically. "I know." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "You're going to be fine. I'll see you after your surgery's over." Audrey's facial muscles contorted visibly as she tried to fight against the medication's strong pull. "Shhh," Jack soothed. "Don't fight it. Don't try to talk. Just sleep." He felt her grip slacken as the anesthetic took hold, and her eyelids dipped and closed. "Get some sleep now. I'll be right next to you when you wake up, I promise." He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead, and then he stepped back. Dr. Carlson moved to the head of the stretcher, and the surgical team took up positions around it. Together, they wheeled Audrey out the door and down the hallway to the operating room.

With a sigh, Jack sank into a chair. Now there was nothing to do except wait.

He turned to Kim, who was still hovering next to him. She hadn't left his side since they had arrived at CTU. "How are you holding up, Kimmy?"

Kim shrugged. "I'm okay, I guess. Tired. Hungry. A little stiff and sore." She leaned her head against Jack's shoulder. "I'm glad you're safe, Dad."

Jack smiled slightly. "Me too. And I'm _very_ glad that _you're_ safe."

Kim sighed. "It's nice to be away from that creepy guy. I want to get as far away from him as possible."

"What creepy guy?" Jack questioned. "Cheng Zhi?"

"Oh, is that his name?" Kim frowned. "That was weird. He knew my name and yours, but he never mentioned his."

"He's like that," Jack told her. "He likes to be very aloof and mysterious."

Kim sat bolt upright. "You _know_ him? _How?"_

"He's the one who kidnapped me," Jack said grimly. "Yeah, I know him. I know him quite well."

"Where is he now?" Kim asked.

Jack smirked. "Currently? In a body bag in the morgue, with about twenty bullet holes in his chest." He sobered. "Cheng Zhi is dead. You won't ever have to worry about him again. I promise."

"Good," Kim said dryly.

"You have Audrey to thank for that, actually," Jack told her. "She snuck an M-16 out of the armory, and hid at the warehouse. When you had left, and Cheng and I were alone, she opened fire and killed him. That was the assault-rifle fire that you heard."

Kim exhaled hard. "That scared the crap out of me...but when you see Audrey, tell her I said thanks," she added wryly. "She did us a favor."

Jack laughed. "She knows it, but I'll tell her anyway."

There was a knock at the door, and Dr. Besson poked his head into the room. "Hi, you two. Dr. Carlson's in the OR with Audrey, so she sent me to check on you, Kim. What do you say that we get you cleaned up and patch up those cuts?"

"Sure, I guess." Kim grimaced. "I hate doctor's offices, and I'm not a fan of doctors. Can we try to hurry and get this over with?" she asked grimly, settling onto the bed.

Dr. Besson smiled sympathetically. "I'll try my best. But, really, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to hurt you. I don't bite."

"Good," Kim shot back. "You shouldn't."

Dr. Besson laughed. "All right, let's see what we've got here." He turned his attention to examining the cuts and bruises that covered Kim's body. "You've got a bit of a mess here, my dear. Once I'm done here, we'll let you clean up a bit and get rid of all that grime and dried blood." He gently inspected a gash on her forearm. "I'm going to need to stitch some of these cuts."

Kim winced. "Do you have to? Can't you just use glue or bandages or something? They do that now, don't they? Those little butterfly strips. Can't you use those?"

Dr. Besson shook his head. "A lot of these cuts should heal on their own, and I'll be able to use butterfly bandages on some of the others. But I am going to have to stitch a few of them, I'm afraid." He produced a suture kit from the cabinet. "I'll try to work as quickly as possible."

"Look away, Kim," Jack spoke up. "You hate needles."

Kim looked at the syringe that Dr. Besson was filling. "Yeah, well, I like drugs even less. What is that?" she added.

"Lidocaine," the doctor told her. "It's a local anesthetic. Just something to numb the wounds so I can stitch them."

Kim licked her lips nervously. "Dad?"

"I'm right here, Kim," Jack said gently, sitting down behind her.

He held his daughter close, running his fingers through her hair and whispering soothing words, as Dr. Besson worked to clean, numb, and suture the gashes that covered her body.

"All finished," the doctor announced at last. An audible sigh of relief escaped Kim's lips as she slid down off of the bed and got to her feet.

"I'm glad that's over," she said gratefully. "That wasn't fun."

Dr. Besson smiled sympathetically. "I know it wasn't. I'm sorry." He handed her a wet cloth. "Why don't you see if you can get rid of some of that blood and grime, while I go rustle up some ice for those bruises?" Kim took the cloth gratefully, and the doctor left the room in search of the promised ice.

Ten minutes later, Kim crawled between the crisp, starched sheets of one of the clinic beds. She had been given ice packs for the large purple bruises that dotted her body, and ibuprofen for the pain and stiffness. "No broken bones, and no internal injuries," Dr. Besson told her as he helped her climb into the bed. "The ibuprofen will help with the pain. Other than that, the best thing for you is rest. Get some sleep now, and I'll check on you later." He left the room.

"Dad?" Kim said quietly, shifting position in the bed.

"I'm right here," Jack said softly, settling into a chair next to her bed. "I'm not going anywhere." He took her hand. "Get some sleep, sweetheart." Kim needed no urging. Her eyelids dipped and closed, and in minutes her breathing eased and deepened as she drifted off to sleep with her father holding her hand.

**-o-o-o-o-**

Dr. Carlson's movements were quick and skilled as she helped the surgical teams transfer the still-sleeping Audrey onto a stretcher. "Thanks for your help, team. I'll take it from here." She moved to the head of the stretcher, and wheeled it out of the post-operations room. From there, the trip down the hallway was short, and in moments she was bringing Audrey into the room where Kim now lay.

Gently, carefully, the doctor placed Audrey in the bed on the other side of the room and drew the covers over her. She fussed over Audrey's motionless sleeping form for a few moments, tucking the thick covers tighter around her and fluffing the pillows. "There," she said quietly. "Nice and comfy."

Dr. Carlson smiled at the sight before her: Jack Bauer sprawled in a hard plastic chair, with his daughter on his right and the woman that he loved on his left. All three of them were sound asleep.

She had a feeling that this was the first such peaceful moment that Jack had had in a long while, and she wasn't about to deny him that. Silently, she tiptoed from the room and closed the door behind her.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

A week later, Dr. Carlson smiled as she approached the door to Audrey's room. For the past week, Audrey had drifted in and out of a heavy fog of painkillers and anesthetic. That morning, her hazy, drug-induced stupor had finally lifted, and she was awake, alert, and coherent. She had spent the morning bantering and playfully joking with Jack, Kim, and little Angela. Dr. Carlson poked her head into the room and grinned at its occupants. "Hey there, everybody. Am I invited to the party?"

"Yes," Angela called out. "You're nice; I like you. Come in."

The doctor chuckled as she stepped into the room. "Thanks. What are you up to in here?"

"Jack and Angela are playing tic-tac-toe on the whiteboard," Audrey reported, motioning to the white dry-erase board on the wall (that was intended to be used for doctors' notes). "I think Angela won. And Kim just beat me at Old Maid for the third time." She shuffled the deck of cards. "Is anybody else getting a little bored?" she added, taking a spoonful of chicken soup from the bowl on her lunch tray.

"Yes!" Jack, Kim, and Angela replied in unison.

Dr. Carlson laughed aloud. "It looks like I came in the nick of time, then," she remarked. "I have something for you that I think will alleviate your boredom." She produced a paper bag from behind her back, and handed it to Kim. "Take a look."

Kim peered into the bag. "A chess set!"

Jack's eyes lit up. "Let me see that." He glanced up at Dr. Carlson, smiling slightly. "Thank you very much. You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," the doctor replied firmly, in a tone that left no room for argument.

"Play with us," Kim requested.

Dr. Carlson shook her head regretfully. "I'd love to, but I can't. I've got work to do. I just stopped by to see how you were doing, Audrey. Can I get you anything? More to eat? An extra blanket? More pain medication?"

Audrey shook her head. "I'm doing okay for now. Thanks, though."

"You're welcome. How about the rest of you?" Dr. Carlson added. "Can I get anything for any of you?" Kim, Jack, and Angela shook their heads. "Okay, then." The doctor smiled. "Enjoy the chess set." She left the room.

Jack pulled the chess board from the bag and began to set it up. "Hey, Kim. Want to play against me?"

"Sure," she agreed. "I'll play. For old times' sake." She sat down across from her father, and picked up a piece to make her first move.

**-o-o-o-o-**

They were in the middle of their second game when Jack's cell phone rang shrilly. Looking slightly annoyed, he fished the phone from his pocket and answered it. "Bauer."

"Hi, Jack. This is Karen Hayes. Karen _Buchanan,_ actually," she added. "Nadia called a little while ago and told us what happened. I thought I'd call and check on you."

"Well, thank you," Jack said earnestly. "I really appreciate that."

"You're welcome." Karen's tone changed. "How are Kim and Audrey doing? Nadia said that Audrey had to have surgery. How's she feeling?"

"Kim's okay," Jack told her. "She's got some nice bruises and cuts, and she's a little stiff and sore, but she's hanging in there. And Audrey's doing pretty well too. I'm with her now. We're all hanging out in her room, playing games and talking. She's eating Jell-O and making faces at me."

Karen laughed. "It sounds like she's feeling okay, then."

Jack nodded. "She's doing well, all things considered. They've got her on heavy medication for the pain, and her leg is wrapped in some thick bandages, but she's hanging in there. The doctors say that they got everything out and stitched up the wound, and that it should heal over time. Dr. Carlson says that Audrey should be able to go home in about two weeks. She'll be in a wheelchair for a few weeks, and on crutches for a while after that, but she's going to be okay." He smiled at Audrey. "They say that Kim and Audrey should both be okay in the long run. Kim's bruises are starting to heal, and the stiffness and soreness will go away soon. Audrey will be up on crutches before too long, and she and Kim will both be able to torment me then."

Karen chuckled. "Poor you." Audrey and Kim heard her comment, and both of them laughed. Jack just shook his head. "Well, I just called to check up on you and let you know that we were thinking about you," Karen told him. "I'll let you go now."

"All right. Thanks again for the call."

"You're welcome. Keep me updated." With that, Karen hung up the phone. Jack turned his attention back to his chess game with Kim, and Audrey went back to the game of Go Fish that she was playing with Angela.

The four of them spent hours playing games, teasing, and joking with one another. CTU Medical had always been a stressful pressure-cooker of a place for the doctors that worked there, and the sounds of merriment drifting from Audrey's room lifted a bit of their stress and brought smiles to their faces. They went about their routines as laughter and banter echoed in the room and the hallways beyond it for hours.

_A/N: Just a quick note to let you all know that there are only 2 chapters left after this. The story's almost over._


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

**TWO WEEKS LATER**

"Is that everything?" Jack asked as he surveyed the small room.

Audrey nodded as she picked up a single bag. "Yeah, I think this is pretty much it." She saw the expression on his face. "I didn't exactly use a U-Haul truck when I went to China, Jack. I had one suitcase with a few outfits, my passport and ID, a tiny Chinese-English dictionary, and an old, falling-apart rental car. I came straight from Qinghai to LA, and I've spent the past two months in a room in CTU Medical. I haven't been able to go to my apartment, so I've been wearing hospital scrubs and clothes from the women's locker room here. I should probably return those, so I doubt we'll have much to bring with us." Something flickered in Jack's eyes, but he nodded silently.

After what felt like an eternity, Dr. Carlson was releasing Audrey. True to her word, Audrey would not be returning to Washington DC with her father. Heller had protested vehemently, but in the end Audrey had won. She would remain in Los Angeles with Jack.

Together, they had chosen a small beach house to move into. While Audrey had been recovering in the medical bay, several of her friends had helped Jack move their belongings into the new house. Audrey could hardly wait to get there.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Dr. Carlson's voice broke into Audrey's reverie, startling her and bringing her back to the present.

Audrey shook her head. "Sorry. What did you say?"

Dr. Carlson laughed. "I _said,_ I have a wheelchair here for you. What do you say that we get you into it and get you out of here?"

Audrey nodded eagerly. "Please. I want to get out of here. I've been cooped up in this room for way too long." She allowed Jack and the doctor to lift her from the bed, and waited as they half-led and half-carried her across the room to the waiting wheelchair.

"There," Dr. Carlson said with satisfaction when Audrey was settled in the chair. "Now, don't forget that I want to see you back here in two weeks for a follow-up."

Audrey nodded in understanding. "There's always something to do here. You might see me sooner than two weeks from now."

"No, she won't," Jack said firmly. "Your instructions were to stay at home and rest. That's what you're going to do."

"Said by the man who practically has to be comatose to agree to stay in Medical," Dr. Carlson remarked. Audrey snickered, and Jack held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Okay, okay," Audrey agreed reluctantly. "I'll take it easy."

"Thank you," Dr. Carlson said mildly. She smiled sympathetically. "Hang in there. It won't be too long before you're back to work. But for now, just humor me and rest up."

Jack took the handles of Audrey's wheelchair. "I have to warn you, Audrey. The last time I handled a wheelchair was more than twenty years ago. Kim had just been born, and I took Teri to the hospital nursery to see her. I haven't pushed a wheelchair since then, though, so my skills are a little rusty. I apologize in advance for any crashes or accidents."

Dr. Carlson cringed and covered her ears. "I didn't hear that; I'm not listening. Be _careful_, you two. I just released you, Audrey. I don't want to have to admit you again. What would I write in the report? 'Patient sustained concussion and broken leg due to accident in out-of-control wheelchair'? I don't even want to _think_ about that!"

Audrey laughed aloud. Jack shook his head. "I'll get the hang of this eventually. And if I don't, Audrey will have to learn how to push herself."

Dr. Carlson rolled her eyes. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Just, please, be careful."

"We will," Audrey assured her. "I'll figure out how to push myself. We'll be fine."

Dr. Carlson just shook her head. "I know you're anxious to get out of here, so I'll let you go now. I'll see you in two weeks."

Slowly, cautiously, Jack steered Audrey out the door. "See? I can do this. I haven't crashed yet."

"Yeah." Audrey smirked. "Now if you can manage to make it outside to the parking lot, I'll be _really_ impressed." Dr. Carlson's laughter echoed behind them. Jack just shook his head, and they continued down the corridor.

They made it outside to the parking lot without incident, both breathing sighs of relief. "Now we just need to get you into the car," Jack remarked. He gave her a sideways glance. "At least I know how to drive a car. Maybe I should just make you ride in one of those little kiddie cars for the next few weeks." Audrey snorted, and Jack chuckled. "All right. Let's get you in the car and get out of here." Gently, carefully, he lifted her into the passenger seat of the SUV. "There."

In minutes, they were ready to leave. Audrey's wheelchair was stowed safely in the trunk, and she was positioned comfortably in her seat. "Do you need anything before we get going?" Jack asked as he climbed behind the steering wheel. "A bottle of water? A sweatshirt? Is the air conditioning okay?"

Audrey gave him a look. "I'm fine. I'm perfectly comfortable. Would you please just drive? I want to see the house."

"You've seen it," Jack said.

"Via pictures," Audrey reminded him. "You got to have the fun of actually looking at all the different apartments and houses. I had to help you choose by looking at the pictures that you took."

Jack smiled. "I think you'll like it. And there are two surprises that I _know_ you'll like," he added mysteriously. "You'll just have to wait and see what they are. It won't take long to get there."

While Jack focused on the map in his lap, Audrey kept herself occupied with watching the sights that flashed by outside her window. The trip passed relatively quickly, and in a short while, they were pulling into the driveway of their new house. "We're here," Jack announced. "Can you tear yourself away from the fascinating view of downtown LA long enough to come inside and check out the house?"

Audrey unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the door handle. "I'm coming. Let me out. Can you get my chair?" Before she had finished, Jack was at her side with the wheelchair and was carefully helping her into it. "Thanks."

"Welcome." Carefully, Jack steered her wheelchair up the sidewalk to the front door. Audrey waited impatiently as Jack found the key in his pocket, unlocked the door, and pushed it open. He helped her navigate her chair over the threshold, and closed the door behind them. "There. Go check out our new house."

Audrey needed no further urging. She steered her chair into the living room, and then disappeared down the hallway.

She returned several minutes later, grinning. "It's perfect."

"Well, I'm glad you like it, because you helped choose it," Jack replied. "But there are two more surprises that will make it even better." He pointed towards the back patio. "The first one's out there."

Audrey struggled a bit with the sliding glass door, but got it open after a few moments. Slowly, with effort, she navigated her chair over the threshold, and wheeled herself out onto the large open patio. Her eyes lit up as she took in the sight before her. "Jack! It's on the beach!"

"You knew that," he told her, but his eyes were twinkling.

"No, I didn't! You know I didn't. You told me we were _near_ the beach, not _on_ it. We've got the beach and the ocean in our backyard."

"I remembered you telling me about the beach house that your family had when you were growing up," Jack told her. "I thought you would like this."

Audrey smiled at him. "I love it, Jack. It's perfect, absolutely perfect."

Jack returned the smile. "There's one more surprise. Stay here, and I'll go get it." He disappeared into the house, and returned a few minutes later carrying something in his arms.

Audrey's eyes widened, and she clapped her hands like a child. "You got a puppy!"

Jack grinned as he held out the wriggling ball of brown-and-black fur, and Audrey found herself with a lap full of German Shepherd puppy. "I saw the picture of you that your dad took. You were around twelve years old, and you were playing with a huge German Shepherd. I thought you might like this one.

Audrey beamed at him. "I _love_ him. He's wonderful." She ruffled the puppy's thick fur, laughing as he reached out to swipe at her hair. "He looks exactly like old Storm did when he was a puppy. He's adorable."

Jack smiled back at her. "He's a hyper, energetic maniac, but I think you two will get along. What do you want to name him?"

"Hmm, let's see... Cole," Audrey suggested.

Jack made a face. "No way. That was the name of this annoying jerk of a guy that used to work with me in the field. I'm not naming our dog after him. 'Tank', that's a good dog name."

Audrey shook her head vehemently. "We are not naming him after a weapon. Next thing, you'll have a dog named Glock or SigSauer."

Jack smiled crookedly. "How about something along the lines of 'Dammit', so I know what to call him when he wants to go outside to pee at three in the morning?"

Audrey burst out laughing. "That's cruel! And the answer is _no._ We are absolutely not going to name the dog something that will allow you to call him and curse at the same time." She and Jack both looked hard at the little dog, trying to come up with a suitable name. "How about Captain?" she suggested.

Jack studied the squirming puppy. He was roly-poly ball of fur with large floppy ears and massive feet. Even at this young age, Jack could tell that the dog was going to grow up to be large and powerful. "I like that. Captains are leaders. This guy looks like he's going to be a strong, powerful leader. All right, we'll name him Captain."

Audrey gently freed the sleeve of her blouse from Captain's jaws. "Let go, pup," she said lightly. "Shirts are not puppy toys." Captain wagged his tail, and turned his attention to covering Audrey's hands and chin with sloppy puppy kisses. Audrey sputtered and laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I love you too." She turned her gaze away from the puppy, and glanced up at Jack. "Let's go to the beach."

Jack surveyed her wheelchair and her thickly bandaged leg. "Now?"

Audrey nodded emphatically. "Yes. Now. I'd forgotten how nice this was. I miss the sand, the smell of the ocean..._everything._" She cocked her head. "I think I remember hearing that there are beaches in China...but I never got to see them. _Please,_ Jack."

Something flickered in Jack's eyes, and he nodded. "Okay. We'll go to the beach if that's what you want." He eyed Audrey's wheelchair. "I don't think that will work too well on the sand. I'm going to have to carry you, I guess. Is that okay?"

"Perfectly fine with me," Audrey told him. "I'm not letting anything stand in my way. Is it okay with _you?"_

Jack nodded. "Of course it is. I don't have a problem with carrying you. You're certainly not too heavy," he added wryly, glancing at her slender, elegant frame. "Okay. Here we go." Carefully, he lifted Audrey from the chair and settled her in his arms. "Comfy?" She nodded. "Okay, then, let's go." Jack adjusted Audrey's weight in his arms, and set off towards the stretch of sandy beach beyond their small house.

He carried her across the patio, down the stairs, across the yard, and through the gate in the low fence bordering the beach. They cleared the top of a low rise, and found themselves facing a long, wide stretch of sandy beach. Beyond it, the ocean crashed and roared as waves pounded the shoreline. A gentle breeze ruffled their clothes and Audrey's hair, and filled their noses with the heady, salty sea air.

Jack smiled as he gently deposited Audrey in the soft sand. "Here you go, madam," he said, using a phony British accent. "The beach, as you requested."

Audrey rolled her eyes. "Your accent is atrocious," she said with a laugh. "Spare me."

"As you wish." Jack gave a mock bow, and then straightened. "Okay, okay, I'll stop."

Audrey grinned. "Thank you," she said, laughing again. Her tone turned serious. "Thank you, Jack. For the house, for Captain, for putting up with my crazy wishes and bringing me down here with my leg in bandages... for everything."

Jack nodded. "You're very welcome."

Audrey pulled herself up into a sitting position. "How long has it been since you built a sand castle, Jack?"

He thought about that as he gently guided Captain away from a sand crab's outstretched claw. "I don't know. Years."

Audrey smiled. "I guess you'll just have to re-learn by helping me, then."

Jack returned her smile as he scooped up Captain and sank down next to her. "I guess I will."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30 (FINAL CHAPTER)

**THREE WEEKS LATER**

"Hey, Jack, can you grab that plate of cookies off the counter?" Audrey called. "There are some Ziploc bags in the cabinet. Grab one, and put some of the cookies in it."

Jack appeared a few minutes later, and dropped a plastic bag of still-warm chocolate chip cookies into Audrey's basket. "There. I didn't eat any, I promise. Is that everything?"

Audrey inspected the basket that she was packing. "Hot dogs, potato chips, a few carrot sticks, cookies, and lemonade. Yep, that's everything." She picked up the basket. "Kim and Angela should be here soon. Let's head outside and get everything set up." She poked the canvas bag that sat next to the door. "What's this?"

"Beach toys for Angela," Jack replied, picking up the bag. "Kid-size plastic shovels and pails for building sand castles." He handed the bag to Audrey. "If you can carry that, I'll get the picnic basket."

Audrey took the bag and hobbled towards the back door. "Got it." After what seemed like an eternity, Dr. Carlson had given her permission to "graduate" to using crutches. Audrey was relieved at how much easier and faster it was to move around. She made her way across the patio with ease. Jack met her at the top of the stairs, and took a gentle hold on her elbow to help her keep her balance. They made their way carefully down the steps, and soon stepped down into the soft sand. "There."

Audrey spread out a large blanket, and got to work unpacking the picnic basket. Jack turned his attention to gathering wood for the fire. In minutes, he had stacked a good-sized pile of wood near their blanket. Audrey lowered herself to the ground next to him, laying her crutches out in front of her. "What can I do to help?"

Jack handed her a handful of newspaper. "Crumple those up into balls, and we'll use them for kindling."

Audrey finished balling up the newspaper pages, and glanced up. Jack had arranged the wood in the shape of a tepee, and was methodically placing the crumpled newspaper inside of it. "I'd say you've done this more than once," Audrey remarked, watching Jack's skillful movements.

He nodded. "Special Forces training. One of the first survival lessons was on how to build a good fire." He surveyed his handiwork. "Let's see how I did." Audrey watched as Jack lit a match and touched it to the newspaper in several places. He nodded with satisfaction as the paper quickly caught fire and began to burn. In minutes, they had a roaring, crackling fire in front of them. Jack smiled. "God knows how long it's been since Special Forces, and I still remember how to build a fire. Sergeant Conlon would be proud."

Audrey moved closer to the merrily crackling fire and held out her hands, savoring the light and warmth. "Feels great."

"Hey, guys!" They both turned, and saw Kim and Angela hurrying towards them. "We're here. Sorry we're late." Kim shook her head. "Your map was awful, Dad. We got lost."

"That's a lie!" Angela shouted, giggling. "Your map was good. She was holding it upside down, that's all!" Kim tried to clamp a hand over the little girl's mouth, but Angela ducked away and ran to Jack, still giggling.

Jack shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to hold back a smirk. "You were holding the map upside down? Smooth, Kimmy. Real smooth. I thought I taught you better than that." He scooped Angela into his arms. "I guess I'll just have to show _you_ how to read a map."

"Please do," Kim laughed. _"Someone _in the house should know how to read a map and follow directions, even if it is a four-year-old."

"I can do it!" Angela protested. "I'm a big girl. My preschool teacher said so. She let me pass out the pretzels at snack time today."

Jack ruffled Angela's unruly blond hair. "Your teacher was right. You are a big girl. A smart, pretty, big girl." He placed her on her feet on the ground. "Well, now that you're _finally_ here, Kim," he said with a smirk, "shall we start roasting the hot dogs?"

"Yes!" Angela cried. "I'm _starving!"_

Audrey smiled at the little girl as she collected her crutches and got to her feet. "Well, then, come on over here and let me show you what to do."

What followed was a flurry of laughter and teasing. Kim caught her first hot dog on fire and burned it to a charcoaled crisp, and dropped her second attempt into the coals. At last, on her third attempt, she managed to roast the hot dog successfully. "I did it!"

"Yeah, on the third try," Jack said with a laugh. "Even Angela got hers right the first time."

"Because you helped her," Kim retorted. She inspected her hot dog. "I think I need some help." Shaking his head, Jack helped his daughter slide her hot dog off of the roasting stick and into a bun. "Thanks," Kim said gratefully, taking a bite of the steaming hot dog. "Yum. Perfect."

The four of them took seats around the merrily crackling fire, and settled in to eat. They passed the bag of potato chips back and forth, shared the carrots, and playfully fought over the chocolate chip cookies. When they had eaten their fill and emptied the container of lemonade, they sat the picnic basket aside. "That was yummy," Angela remarked. "What are we going to do now?"

"How about building a sand castle?" Audrey suggested. Angela clapped her hands eagerly. Together, the four of them built an impressive sand castle. Audrey, Kim, and Angela all teased Jack when he attempted to add a window, and instead succeeded in collapsing the entire front wall. "Nice job," Audrey laughed, watching the wall crumble and collapse. "Hey, Angela, help me fix the mess that your grandpa made." Angela giggled as she crawled over to Audrey and helped her rebuild the wall. "There," Audrey said with satisfaction. "Now, Jack, _this_ is how you make windows." She lightly traced the outline of a window with one manicured fingernail. "See? Don't jab it, or the wall will collapse and cave in."

"Yeah, now you tell me." Jack spotted something in the sand. "Here. You can use these for decorations." He handed Angela and Audrey a handful of small colorful shells. They accepted them eagerly, and began to place them on the walls of the castle.

"There." Angela nodded. "It looks pretty now."

Audrey gently stuck an amber-colored starfish to the roof of the castle. "It's perfect."

"The only problem is that the waves are coming closer," Kim spoke up. Nervously, they watched the ocean waves creep closer and closer. They all jumped when a large wave crashed onto the shore and sent the castle tumbling into the surf.

"Oh, no!" Angela wailed. "The castle's gone!"

"There's only one thing to do about that," Audrey said with a reassuring smile. "Build another one." They set to work once again.

"I think this one's even better than the first one," Kim remarked, surveying the completed sand castle. "I like it."

Angela eyed the ocean apprehensively. "I hope another big wave doesn't come." Jack had a solution to that problem. He located several large chunks of driftwood, and used them to build a barrier around their castle. Angela smiled. "Thanks, Grandpa. The castle's safe now."

Jack ruffled her hair. "You're very welcome. Now, what do you say that we go for an evening swim?"

Angela clapped her hands excitedly. "Yes, yes!"

Audrey sighed as she laid her crutches out in front of her on the blanket. "I guess I'll just have to sit here and watch you," she said reluctantly. "I won't be getting my stitches out for another two weeks, and I can't get them wet." She glared at her injured leg, and kicked at the sand. "I want to swim!"

Jack smiled as he held up a roll of something that looked like an Ace wrap. "I think we can manage that. I got this from Dr. Carlson. It's a waterproof bandage." Audrey's eyes lit up, and she reached for the package. Jack chuckled as he sat down next to her. Together, they wrapped her injured leg thickly with the material. "There. No water can possibly get through all of that." Jack patted Audrey's shoulder. "Go swim."

Audrey needed no further urging. Grabbing Angela's hand, she dashed into the water. Kim and Jack followed, more slowly, but that plan fell apart when Audrey snuck up behind them and drenched them with a massive splash. Angela burst into a fit of giggles. Jack wiped water out of his eyes and surveyed Audrey. "Okay, you asked for it!"

Audrey screeched as Jack swung her into his arms and waded into deeper water. Gently but firmly, he dumped her into the water, where she landed with a splash. She came up sputtering and laughing as she wiped water from her eyes. "You'd better be careful, Audrey," Kim warned, surfacing after a dive. "He'll dunk you if you give him the chance. He used to do it to Mom and me all the time."

Audrey eyed Jack. "Oh, really? Thanks, Kim. I'll keep that in mind." She grinned. "For now, though...you'd better run!" From behind her back, she produced two massive, fully loaded squirt guns.

Kim and Angela screeched, and bolted into deeper water. "Where did those come from?" Jack asked in surprise, sputtering as Audrey hit him full in the face with a stream of water.

She smiled wickedly. "They were in the bag of beach toys. I hid them when you weren't looking."

What followed was a chaotic melee of shrieks, screeches, laughter, and splashes as the four of them quickly became immersed in a full-fledged water war. Audrey and Angela teamed up and dunked Jack twice, but he soon caught on and drenched them with the water guns.

At last, they collapsed into the warm sand, too exhausted to continue their war. "Truce," Audrey panted. "I surrender." She plopped down onto their blanket, and Jack sprawled out next to her. Kim lay down on his other side, sandwiching him between them, and Angela curled up next to her.

"That was fun," Kim commented. "We'll have to do this again some time." Everyone else agreed emphatically.

Angela giggled. "I liked dunking Grandpa."

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed. Kim and Audrey laughed aloud. "You're crazy," Jack told them, shaking his head.

"Runs in the family," Kim replied, quickly moving out of the way as Jack swung his hand out to swat her. Audrey and Angela snickered, and then collapsed in further gales of helpless laughter as Jack captured and tickled both of them.

Eventually, the four of them calmed and fell still. The sun had set by then, and they lay on their backs on the thick blanket and watched the stars twinkle above them. "Hey, Audrey," Jack said suddenly. "Remember those facts that Dr. Carlson told us about lions?" She nodded. "Look up," Jack told her. "There's Leo the lion." Audrey looked where Jack was pointing, and saw that the stars did indeed form the rough shape of a lion. For the next few minutes, everyone pointed out and tried to find various constellations.

Slowly, as they grew sleepy, they fell silent one by one. Jack was sandwiched between Audrey and Kim, and Angela was on Kim's other side. They lay there together, silent, each lost in their own thoughts, as they gazed at the starry night sky.

**THE END**

_A/N: Yes, this is the end. The story's over. sniff . Sad, I know. But don't worry! I've already got some ideas for new stories churning around in by brain. Thank you so much for reading this story. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing it as much as you liked reading it. Thanks a ton for all the great reviews. They made me smile, laugh, and think. I had a GREAT time reading all of your comments and insights!_

_For the final time (for this story anyway): Did you have a favorite scene, quote, or character? Did you have a favorite, scene, quote, or character __**OVERALL**__ in the story? If so, what/who/when?_

_Thanks for reading! I'm already working on typing new chapters for another story. Look for it soon; I hope you'll like it!_


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